About 40 percent of the world's population has never owned a pair of shoes.
Kayla Turney, 16, a Castro Valley High School sophomore, made strides in shrinking that percentage Sunday afternoon by hosting a shoe drive at the CVHS athletic stadium.
"I'm a teenager and I want to show that young people are not all lazy and unreliable, but can make a difference," Kayla said.I give my adidas classic practically zero consideration. My golf clubs get plenty of attention and my golf balls demand my full focus "There are people who need help,CL Shoes are highly sought after and you are indeed lucky if you can have one sitting in your closet and if I can give it, I'm going to."
Mexico Shoeboxes, a missionary group, picked up the donated shoes at the end of the three-hour event. It plans to distribute them in Mexican cities and orphanages around Christmas time.
Hundreds of people from schools, churches, and organizations in the community and neighboring cities like Dublin, San Ramon and Fremont, came to show their support by dropping off footwear. From casual flip-flops and sneaks to dressy boots and stiletto heels-a whopping 767 pairs of new and gently worn shoes were collected at the event.
CVHS health teacher Patricia Parker made the largest donation of the day: a pickup-truck-load of shoes. She said she collected shoes for weeks from her family, friends, students and fellow teachers.
Kayla, who organized the local event on her own, encouraged donors to ditch their own kicks and walk a mile around the CVHS track barefoot.
"The track is relatively clean and well kept, but the people we're donating shoes to live in cities with no sanitation," she said. "While we can't truly claim to know what they face on an everyday basis, we can raise awareness through our demonstration of walking barefoot, and also provide direct relief through our donations."
She put more than 10 months of planning into the event and paid about $1,000 out of pocket for supplies, posters, and insurance for renting the track for a day. Her proud father,Hence the prada men shoes was double stitched with action leather and low outlined sole Don Turney, said the costs didn't seem to faze her one bit.