Journal

Run Around (Willow Grove) North Wales Running Company Bryn Mawr Running Company (Manayunk) John's Sneaks (Ardmore)
 * Oct 6** - highlight/annotate sources
 * Oct 14** - Today Dr. Valenza went over the different kinds of copyrights that exist when using online pictures. I didn't realize all the different options there were. For example, there is an attribution license, which basically gives you the right to use the picture as long as you give credit to the photographer. From there, the Share Alike, Non-Commercial, and No Derivative Works get progressively more strict about what you can and cannot do.
 * Oct 18** - I had a hard time finding more sources, but Dr. Valenza showed me this university database with a bunch of options. My topic is so specific that its hard to find an article that deals directly with what I'm talking about.
 * Oct 20** - Claire Williams from Hope Runs emailed me back about the shoe drive. She said that shipping one pair of shoes usually costs around $4. So, in order to reach my goal of 100 pairs of shoes, I would need around $400 to pay for the shipping costs. This worries me because now I have to consider whether people would be willing to contribute money in addition to their shoe donations. Or, I could raise the money for the shipping costs separately. Or, I just might have to lower my goal to make due for the shipping costs.
 * Oct 22** - Finalized 10 annotations.
 * November 1** - Collected boxes for shoe drive.
 * November 15** - Finished first draft of brochure, just need to find more pictures.
 * November 30** - Today, I went to Born to Run and Jenkintown Running Company and explained to them about my project. It was a little crazy in each of the stores because it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but both stores seemed interested in the cause. First, I just wanted to explain to them and get their permission to put drop boxes in their stores, so this trip was solely for that purpose. I was happy that they were so open to the idea and I'm going to return to both stores in order to place the drop boxes.
 * December 8** - In Spanish class, I told everyone about the shoe drive and who it was benefiting. People seemed really excited about it and promised to bring in shoes. A couple people asked if it was just specifically sneakers or whether I would collect other types of used shoes. Also, someone asked if they could bring in sneakers even if they didn't have the shoes laces anymore. This raises a good point because I know that sometimes the laces get worn out before the sneakers do and the shoes are the most important part, so I just told them to bring it in and we'll see what happens.
 * December 10** - I still haven't decided what to do about shipping the sneakers. I think it will be way too expensive to have to pay $4 for each pair of shoes, but I feel like their has to be a special deal or something where I don't have to pay as much. Also, my friend's dad goes to Kenya a lot because he has a charity there to build water tanks. When Interact did a banquet for an AIDS orphan in Uganda in school back in May, the ladies talked about how people who go over usually bring suitcases full of supplies and clothing to give to the kids and locals and come back with empty suitcases. I hoping that through him I can arrange something similar where maybe the people he goes with can each bring say five shoes. His groups usually consist upwards of twenty to thirty people, so it's not totally unrealistic that they can carry over the shoes. Then, it would just be the transporting part that might be difficult.
 * December 14** - I found another organization called Yes, Inc. Yes, Inc. is a non-profit that works to provide basic necessities for people in Africa. Their initial project, Shoes for Africa, works to collect new and gently worn shoes and distribute them to those in need. Specifically working in Senegal, West Africa, the website explains that the shoes are sent to the Yes, Inc.'s warehouse where they are then sent via ocean cargo. Once they are processed and retrieved from customs, they are stored in a warehouse in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, until they are ready for distribution. This organization only requests that the people who collect shoes pay to ship them to the United States warehouse. Yes, Inc provides the money to ship the shoes internationally usually via other donations and fund raising. In their suggestions for a shoe drive, they only suggest that the shoes will cost $1 or $2 to ship, but that is less expensive than what the Hope Runs team suggests partly because $4 covers international shipping costs. Still, it's another option to consider...
 * December 19** - This Sunday, I decorated a bunch of boxes that I collected from Genuardi's. On the front and back I put in big, bold letters "Sneakers for Orphans" and on the sides I pasted on the Hope Runs logo, so people know where the shoes are going when they donate shoes. Here's a pic:
 * December 22** - After school, I dropped off boxes at Born To Run and Jenkintown Running. Both stores were really nice about hosting the mini shoe drives in their stores. I got talking to the lady from Born To Run and she said that often times people come into the store with their old sneakers and ask what to do with them. Eventually, she started up her own collection and began donating to a local organization, like a mini version of the Salvation Army. The man from Jenkintown Running shared a similar story. When I came in to talk to him before, he said that they had just donated about 2000 pairs. Luckily, this means that people already know to bring their shoes to these stores, so hopefully I'll be able to collect a lot from these two places.
 * December 28** - So, after hearing about the large influx of old shoes that people brought into the two running stores, I figured that if I broaden the amount of shoe stores I go to, I may be able to collect more sneakers. I made a list of a bunch of local running stores that I can visit to either leave a drop box or collect any old shoes that they have lying around. Here they are:
 * December 30** - Run Around did not have any old shoes to give, but the guy was really nice and said he would be happy to bring in his old sneakers from home and to tell his coworkers to do the same. Later next week, I'm going to swing by again to collect those. North Wales Running Company gave me a whole box full of sneakers. The guy even gave me some barely used sneakers that he said he was supposed to test out, but for some reason or another just weren't right for him. I was talking to him about how nice the condition is of some of the sneakers I had collected and we came to the conclusion that a lot of them were used by runners who have to get new shoes after they have used them for a certain mileage period. It's crazy though - some of them looked like they have been worn for a month, tops.
 * January 7** - As of now, I have over 70 pairs of sneakers!