Keep the Midlands Beautiful shoe drive fundraiser raises money to support litter prevention
June 7, 2021
Keep the Midlands Beautiful’s annual shoe drive fundraiser which began April 1 will continue through June 30 to raise funds to support its mission to engage, inspire and educate the Midlands to invest in our community through litter prevention, recycling, and beautification.
Anyone can help by dropping off gently worn, used and new shoes at any time at KMB’s office at 1305 Augusta Road, West Columbia, at the South Carolina State Museum or at the Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber of Commerce at 1006 12th St, Cayce. There are also public donation sites at three Lexington County Collection and Recycling Centers, located at Distant Ln., Chapin; Bush River Rd., Columbia; and Ball Park Rd., Lexington. If your local business, church, or neighborhood association would like to host a collection bin, please contact KMB at 803-733-1139 or [email protected].
KMB earns money based on the total weight of the shoes collected. Those dollars are allocated towards core programs, purchasing additional work gloves and litter grabbers for dedicated volunteers to conduct more litter pickups across the City of Columbia, and Richland and Lexington counties. All donated shoes will be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of micro-enterprise partners in Haiti and other developing nations. Funds2Orgs works with micro-entrepreneurs in helping them create, maintain, and grow small businesses selling shoes, which improves their family’s livelihood.
“The spring is a wonderful time to clean out closets.” said Laura Blake-Orr, Core Programs Administrator. “We know that most people have extra shoes they will never wear again and would like to donate to us. By doing so, we keep shoes out of the landfill, raise money to support our programs, and we have the chance to help families in developing nations who gain economic opportunities.”
About Keep the Midlands Beautiful
Established in 1989 to serve Richland and Lexington Counties, Keep the Midlands Beautiful provides sustainable solutions for individuals and groups to improve the physical and visual aspects of their community through beautification, waste reduction and recycling, and litter prevention.
