Free shoe scheme up-sizes
A teenager’s penchant for finding a second life for old shoes has extended to a school holiday popup shop.
Maddie Mcqueen-davies, 16, has big plans for Share a Pair, the scheme she started in Palmerston North last year, collecting secondhand footwear and giving it away to those in need.
Over the school holidays, Maddie has held pop-up events throughout the region, including at Tararua College on Tuesday and at Highbury Whanau Centre. There will be another one in Awapuni in November.
Maddie estimates she has given away 550 pairs of shoes and collected 1030 pairs over the last year. At the last pop-up, she gave away 112 pairs of shoes.
‘‘We’ve still got quite a few shoes sitting in the garage,’’ she said.
Her next major Share a Pair goal is to launch a high school ambassador programme at the end of the year to get young people starting up similar schemes in their schools and communities. She thinks it is an easy way to make a difference to people’s lives.
‘‘You just got to collect a few pairs of shoes and give them out, really. It doesn’t take money or a huge amount of time once it’s set up.
‘‘For families that are already struggling, shoes are low on the priority list.’’
Maddie is planning to register Share a Pair as a charity. This will give her access to more sources of funding, as most grants are only available to registered charities.
Having won the young leader award at the Women of Influence Awards in October, she is using the publicity to continue growing Share a Pair. Although Maddie is not sure who nominated her for the award, she suspects it was her mum.