Students step up
Rehoboth teens look to 'Save Your Soles'

Rehobeth teacher Tim Pikaart and student Lindi Lyle load shoes into the back of a truck so they can be transported to a storage container at the school. Students will be going door-to-door in Gallup on Saturday to collect old shoes. (Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent)

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

REHOBOTH — "A shoe and a buck."

It's a rather strange mantra, but Doug Evilsizor has been saying it a lot lately. And he's hoping lots of people in Gallup will be donating a shoe and a buck to the high school students who will be attempting to knock on every front door in Gallup on Saturday.

The goal is to collect at least 5,000 pairs of used athletic shoes and a dollar per shoe from the Gallup community. Yes, that's 10,000 mostly stinky shoes and $10,000 in dollar bills or spare change.

It's all part of Rehoboth Christian School's "Save Your Soles!"or ReUse-a-Shoe drive, a recycling grant project that involves recycling old shoes with rubber soles (and with no electronic parts) to Nike Inc., which will then award the school a $20,000 grant to be used toward the construction of a new soccer field with "Nike Grind" artificial turf.

And how many recycled shoes does it take to build a soccer field?

According to Evilsizor, the Director of Development for Rehoboth, Nike uses 175,000 shoes to manufacture the artificial turf for one field.

And why should people in Gallup, who may have no connection to Rehoboth, want to help the school build a soccer field?

Because the field will be available for community use, said Evilsizor. Although the field will be located on the Rehoboth campus, the school will make it available for use by youth soccer teams, as well as soccer and TDFL football tournaments, he said.

Secondly, Evilsizor added, the recycling nature of the project is "good stewardship" of the environment by keeping old shoes out of local landfills. Rehoboth Christian School has partnered with the New Mexico Recycling Coalition on the "Save Your Soles" drive. Although the school won't be eligible to apply for more recycled shoe grants from Nike, Evilsizor said the school would be willing to continue collecting old athletic shoes to help other schools or organizations with similar ReUse-a-Shoe drives.

Evilsizor is hoping the school will be able to collect most, if not all, of the 10,000 shoes this Saturday. Rehoboth high school students, mostly athletes from the school's various sports teams, will be going door-to-door, starting at about 9 a.m. While collecting shoes and dollars, the students will also be delivering the February issue of the Gallup Journey magazine.

"Everybody's got a shoe and a buck," Evilsizor said. "Everybody can participate."

There are two other ways people can contribute shoes to the drive, which continues through the end of February, and one involves a chance at winning $500. Basketball fans can bring shoes to Rehoboth varsity home games and receive raffle tickets for shoes and dollars they donate. Raffle tickets are drawn during the games, and winners compete in shoot-outs to vie for a chance to make a $500 half-court winning shot.

Community members can also drop off donated shoes at recycling bins located at any of these businesses: Amigo Automotive Center, Corley's Auto Sales, The Fitness Center, Gurley Motor Company, Home Depot, Navajo Spirit Fashions, Rico Auto Complex, Scoreboard, and Wal- Mart. Many of the businesses have agreed to donate a dollar to the "Save Your Soles!" project for every shoe that is donated at their business. Rehoboth also has recycling bins throughout the school campus.

Evilsizor is hopeful people from Gallup and the surrounding reservation communities will donate shoes and dollars to the project. "It can have a significant impact," he said of the $30,000 in grant money and donated dollars.

New soccer fields cost about $500,000 to build, he explained, but Rehoboth officials believe they can build a field for about half that amount due to the donated labor the school receives from volunteers. Rehoboth is also applying for a $100,000 grant to help fund the project.

The school is also in the process of fund raising $2 million to build a new gymnasium. Because Rehoboth is a private school, Evilsizor said, it receives no state or federal money for such building projects.

"You can't build new facilities with tuition money," he added, explaining the school is seeking grant money and private donations for the gym project as well.

Although both projects involve big dollar amounts, Evilsizor is optimistic the school will be able to raise the needed money. "Rehoboth has a track record of planning large projects like this,"he said,"and delivering in a timely manner."

He expressed the hope that businesses and individuals that have been successful in the Gallup community would consider financial donations to these projects. He believes the local community reaps many benefits from the quality education Rehoboth Christian school offers its widely diverse student population.

For more information about the project, call Evilsizor at (505) 863-4412, ext. 121 or visit www.saveyoursoles.com. Tax deductible gifts can be made to "Save Your Soles" and mailed to Rehoboth at P.O. Box 41, Rehoboth, N.M. 87322.

— Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be reached at (505) 863-6811, ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.