KIMBALL -- A nonprofit organization in Kimball called Positive Spaces is hosting its eighth annual shoe drive this week. 

The pick-up for the drive is this Friday, May 30 from 11:00 - 11:30 a.m., and they are still accepting volunteers and donations. 

The community can donate shoes all year-round, and once a year, the donated shoes are picked up and sent to foreign countries that are less fortunate. 

Positive Spaces collaborates with Funds2Orgs, a nationwide organization that partners with micro-entrepreneurs to help them create, maintain and grow small businesses in developing countries. 

The founders of Positive Spaces Heather and Nate Entingh wanted to create an organization that collects donations on an item to bring money into the community to make a positive change. 

“We walk around town a lot with our kids, and we noticed the parks were really inept with sidewalks, they were not adequate for kids and not updated. So, we thought “How can we help without complaining – to be part of the solution instead of the problem?” Heather said. “That’s when we started looking around at what we could collect, and I found this company.” 

For every 100 bags of 25 pairs of shoes, Positive Spaces gets $1,000 which is then put toward a project to improve the local parks. 

This year, Positive Spaces, the Kimball Area Foundation and the City of Kimball crews will be installing new water fountains equipped with pet dishes and bottle refills at Gotte and City parks.

“We wanted to be part of the solution for the parks; that’s why we called it Positive Spaces," Heather said. "It’s not only for the parks, but that’s what our focus is on." 

They accept brand new or gently worn shoes of all sizes, styles and colors except for shoes with wheels. 

You can drop the shoes off at Main Street Market and FirsTier bank during business hours or in the back room of Clothes Minded Laundromat any time. 

Heather said, “We can use as many volunteers as possible; we need peopl to help load the bags of shoes into the truck and to put numbers on the bags as well, so we have jobs for everybody.” 

If you would like to volunteer or have any further questions, you can reach Heather at 307-220-2229.