NILES — When the 17 National Junior Honor Society students of Eastside Connections School at 315 N. 14th St. in Niles were asked if they expected their weeklong shoe drive to be as successful as it was, they all gave a resounding, cheerful “No.”

Behind the eighth graders, on their lunchroom’s stage, were the fruits of their drive: 1,800 pairs of new and lightly used pairs of shoes, from flip flops to sneakers to high heels.

The shoes will go to people in need across 24 countries, delivered by the organization Funds2orgs.

The schoolwide shoe drive was launched by the student group last Friday. The students went to the school’s 19 classrooms to the promote the event, incentivizing students with pizza parties given to the classes that donated the most shoes. Meanwhile, flyers and email announcements were posted.

National Junior Honor Society adviser and math teacher Kaylan Wiemuth read down the paper that tallied the items donated each day by each classroom Tuesday morning. At the start of the week, a handful of shoes came in from most classes. Days later, some classrooms were giving more than 100 pairs of shoes each day.

On Tuesday, 565 were collected by 11 a.m.

“They really came out in full force,” she said.

After eating during their lunch period, the National Junior Honor Society students would carry the shoes individually or in bags from classrooms to the stage. They would also band each pair of shoes to keep them together.

Sometimes, the bags were heavy. Sometimes, the shoes smelled or were damp, but the student organizers said helping communities made the work worthwhile.

“People might not have enough money to afford shoes,” said Wyatt Mitchell.

“The other best part is when you’re telling little kids what you’re doing,” said Ethan Chambliss. “They’re like, ‘That’s so cool!”’

This was the shoe drive’s inaugural year and the first fundraising event of the school year for the organization. 

When Wiemuth took over as National Junior Honor Society adviser last year, she was unsure of what her expectation was.

“How many things were we supposed to do?” she said. “We did like a movie night and a few odds and ends things, but nothing that really felt that it was indicative of National Junior Honor Society. Then, this opportunity came about.”

Wiemuth wants to extend her past the two classrooms that will receive pizza parties and to the entire school community for their help.

For now, though, she and her 17 student leaders are continuing to accept shoe donations until Friday.