Your old “soles” can feed a hungry soul so don’t throw away those unwanted shoes.

The Rock Solid 4-H Club is gearing up for its fifth annual “Shoe Away Hunger” campaign during which gently-used and junk shoes will be collected throughout the month of March.

The proceeds from the sale of both types of shoes are used by the “Shoe Away Hunger” program to help put food on the shelves of local food banks.  Unfortunately, hunger is a reality for almost one out of every 10 Minnesota households.

That is why club member Levi Seeman, 16, was quick to share, “I think it’s awesome that one pair of donated shoes can provide a week’s worth of groceries for a hungry Minnesotan. It is such an easy way to help someone in need. Even the shoes we would throw away can be used, so I encourage everyone to do some early spring cleaning and drop off their unwanted shoes.”

Over the course of the past four years that Rock Solid 4-H Club has been involved with this program, they have managed to collect over 7,500 pounds of shoes, which in turn fed over 8,000 people for one week.

In the past, shoe donations from the Austin area have amounted to the largest contribution outside of the Twin Cities.

Karla Muller, one of the club’s leaders, indicated that because of the overwhelming success and continued community interest, the group has decided to again hold another used shoe drive.  Seanna Kubas, 12, a member who has been involved in this project since she was 7, said her favorite part of collecting shoes is seeing the people of the Austin community come together for one big cause. She is excited that it even introduces people to churches because there are drop off boxes at several of them in the Austin area.

Many of the club’s members will be involved in supplying the manpower for this special project. 4-H families are each responsible for overseeing a collection container, emptying, sorting and bagging the shoes on a regular basis throughout March. All of the collected shoes are then taken to a Twin Cities church that serves as a collection and distribution hub.

“This project is so important because we are helping change lives for the better, one used shoe at a time.  We are not only helping to fight poverty but are also striving to save the environment at the same time,” said one of the club’s presidents, Sarah Hecimovich, 15.

The gently-used shoes are sold from a mobile shoe store that brings the affordable shoes to lower income neighborhoods. The junk shoes are sold to companies that grind them up for use as stuffing in a variety of different things. This means that every pair of shoes collected is put to good use while generating proceeds to help put food on the table.

Shoe collection containers can be found at Sterling Main Street, Bethlehem Church, Faith Church, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Queen of Angels Catholic Church, the Mower County 4-H Building and First Baptist Church in Blooming Prairie.