A 15-year-old started collecting unwanted shoes after school; she has now gathered 1,913 pairs for people in need

A school service project inspired by her late grandmother has grown into a remarkable mission to help people in need, with teenager Maggie Driscoll now working towards collecting 10,000 pairs of shoes. The Hingham resident and Tabor Academy freshman has already gathered 1,913 pairs of new and used footwear for Soles4Souls, an organisation that supports people worldwide. What began during her time at Derby Academy after she received the 2024 Foley Citizenship Prize has since expanded with support from residents and schools. Now, with 8,087 pairs still needed, Maggie is calling on communities, businesses and organisations to help her reach the ambitious target.How Maggie’s grandmother inspired the shoe driveMaggie’s motivation began with the story of her late grandmother, who was a teacher in Wisconsin and organised shoe drives for children in need at the end of each school year. That experience stayed with Maggie and later influenced her decision to apply for the Foley Citizenship Prize while she was at Derby Academy.The prize is awarded each year to a seventh-grade student who demonstrates kindness and respect towards others and wants to create positive change. After receiving the 2024 award, Maggie used her eighth-grade service project to educate her community about the importance of shoes and collect footwear for Soles4Souls. Maggie told the Hingham Anchor she had the “privilege of educating my community about the significance of shoes”, an effort that ultimately gathered thousands of pairs and became her ongoing passion project.How donated shoes help people in needFor Maggie, the project is about more than simply finding unwanted shoes and keeping them out of storage or rubbish bins. She explained that shoes can provide comfort and allow people to take part in everyday activities, while also giving them confidence and a way to express themselves.Soles4Souls also uses donated footwear to support people who turn the shoes into a source of income. As Maggie told the Hingham Anchor, the shoes can be placed “onto the feet of these individuals” while also being used as “a source of income for many” who start businesses selling the shoes they receive. That broader impact has helped drive her determination to expand the collection.Maggie’s shoe collection expands across the communityThe initiative has expanded well beyond a small school collection. Soles4Souls has rented a storage unit in Weymouth specifically for Maggie’s shoe collection, giving the project a larger space to handle donations from the local and Tabor communities.The collection accepts footwear for boys, girls, men and women, including cleats, heels, sneakers, dance shoes, sports shoes, dress shoes and casual footwear. According to Maggie, the Weymouth facility is unique in Massachusetts because it is the only shoe drop-off location in the state that accepts more than 15 pairs at a time, making it possible to accommodate larger community donations.Maggie aims to collect 10,000 pairs of shoesMaggie’s next target is considerably larger than the 1,913 pairs already collected. She hopes community support will help her reach 10,000 pairs in the new year. If she succeeds, Soles4Souls has said it will organise a local shoe event and donate 100 new pairs of shoes to a non-profit organisation in the community.Last year, as part of her Foley Prize project, Maggie raised more than $1,000 to provide Hingham schoolchildren with DSW gift cards so they could choose a new pair of shoes. She has also distributed flyers at local businesses and secured donation bins at Derby Academy and Tabor Academy. With 1,913 pairs already collected, Maggie still has 8,087 pairs to go to reach her 10,000-pair target. She is encouraging residents, businesses and other organisations to participate, including by hosting shoe donation bins in common areas.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.