On November 11th, Lea Hanson and Sophia Bouman began partnering with Soles4Souls, an organization that aims to provide education to third world countries for Omaha Burke High School’s Ed Rising program.

The organization Soles4Souls aims to provide basic resources for people in developing countries, and makes it so education and employment opportunities are available so hopeful futures are within reach for people in those communities.

“Personally, I’ve been so privileged to a great education and have so many opportunities available to me, and there’s plenty of people that don’t have access to that like I do.” Bouman said. “I really believe in the power of education and how far it can take you in life, and how it can create innovation. I think everyone deserves to have a hopeful future and not just live day by day, but do something they really care about with their lives.

Bouman and Hanson plan to reach 500 pairs of shoes donated by the end of the drive, which are then taken to Soles4Souls donation centers across the city.

“What we wanted to do was to incorporate our local communities, and now our global communities as well.” Hanson said. “With our first kick-off event, we had over 60 pairs of shoes the first round so that was kind of our goal for bringing in the community.”

To promote this drive, Ed Rising has also partnered with other elementary schools to be able to make an impact on our local community here in Omaha, and also around the world. The more people included, the more the world knows about this life-changing organization.

“We thought it would be a really cool way to interact in that way with other schools, our community, and almost the world and get people involved to have an impact on a regular scale.” Bouman said.

To donate to Soles4Souls, there are donation boxes outside of the auditorium, room 252, and can be brought into advisements as well. Drop boxes are also located in the counseling office as well. New shoes, gently used shoes, or even single shoes are accepted as part of donations to this cause. To make a difference in your community, donate a pair of shoes between November 11th and December 13th.