Cannon County faces DeKalb

By TONY STINNETT/Courier Sports Editor

Whether it’s sports teams, club competitions or marbles, Cannon County students love beating DeKalb County.

The two rivals will meet on the basketball court Feb. 5 and while Cannon County hopes to taste success in the athletic arena, members of the CCHS FCCLA Club are hoping for a winning effort as well.

The CCHS FCCLA has challenged DeKalb County’s FCCLA in its Souls4Souls shoe drive.

“We challenged DeKalb County’s FCCLA to see which club could have the most shoes donated,” said CCHS senior Mary Talbott, who serves as the Tennessee Vice-President of FCCLA. “This is very worthwhile charity and we hope to have a lot of shoes donated in order to help those in need of them. We thought it would be fun to have a challenge with DeKalb County and tie it in to the basketball game.

We hope the competition will generate even greater donations.”

Souls4Shoes is a non-profit organization that procures shoes and gets them to those in need. The World Headquarters is in Old Hickory, Tenn. To date, more than 19 million pairs of shoes have been distributed in 127 countries. Soles4Shoes’ mission is to collect new and like new shoes to give to victims of abject suffering and to collect used shoes to support micro business efforts to eradicate poverty.

“I believe the students feel good about taking part in this shoe drive, knowing it helps those in need,” said Connie Lorance, FCCLA sponsor at CCHS. “The students have worked hard and are excited about the drive and the competition with DeKalb County. I know we will win.”

Donations may be made at Cannon County High School, Dollar General Market, Osborne’s Piggly Wiggly and Save-A-Lot. Donors may also make a donation at CCHS during the CCHS-DeKalb County basketball games Friday, Feb. 5. All donations must be received by Feb. 5.

Soles4Souls was created by Wayne Elsey in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Southeast Asia. While watching television one night, Elsey saw a single shoe wash up on the beach. It triggered a few calls to other executives in the footwear industry and the subsequent donation of a quarter of a million shoes to victims in the devastated countries.

When hurricane Katrina hit a few months later, Elsey made more calls to the same friends. More than a million pairs of shoes was sent to the gulf coast to assist those affected by Katrina. Through this, Soles4Souls was created and the organization continues to strive to make a difference – one pair at a time.

For more information, contact Lorance at 563-2144.