I just finished two major collection drives with my neighbors and church. I collected shoes and boots to donate to the Austin Disaster Relief Network for Hurricane Helene survivors and towels for the babies at Austin Wildlife Rescue! We collected 14 grocery bags of shoes and 8 garbage bags of towels and sheets! Collections are great ways to get kids involved in helping others and showing them how we can reuse and rehome items that are no longer needed. My son loves to help drop off at Austin Wildlife Rescue. He carries one bag and is in charge of ringing the doorbell. They are so sweet to him. He seems to respond more enthusiastically to collecting of things for reuse or rehoming than going to the recycling center or talking about reducing/better packaging choices, etc. If you don’t live in Austin you can search for local shoe repair or disaster relief groups that may be doing something similar. I found out that all the Austin Shoe Hospital locations do a shoe drive every year during hurricane season. There are always local animal rescue and veterinary groups that need material donations so just reach out to them or check their websites for what they need. I just leave tubs on my porch or at church (or work, the gym, etc.) and let people know they can drop them off whenever. If I do a temporary collection, I tape the flyer to a cardboard box for neighbors to fill. I take over items when my bin is full.
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