Dakota County Community Helps Farmington Students Surpass Goal!

Dakota County students from Farmington HS Soles4Souls collectionDakota County Community Helps Local Farmington Students Surpass Fundraising Goal!

Dakota County businesses, APPRO and CERRON, are excited to announce that our local shoe drive was a huge success! Our local Dakota County community answered the call to donate shoes for an international not-for-profit organization, Soles4Souls (see recent blog article HERE). Farmington High School Students, Sydney Bockelman, Jacqueline Smithson, Andrew Lupowski, and fellow students involved in the Youth Development group, set a goal to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes for this 2nd annual event. The group was eager to share that they were able to collect 1,467 pairs of shoes, with 143 pairs collected from the APPRO and CERRON collection site (and a $200 cash donation). The Dakota County community was eager to help for this event. The APPRO and CERRON team also donated 450 cans of food to go to the local food shelf in connection with 360 Communities.

The students processed the shoes to be sent to the Soles4Souls regional collection site at a student lock-in – an annual event called “Games for Change”. At this event, the students play games like Volleyball and Dodgeball, and then spend time devoted to the non-profit work including Soles4Souls, 360 Communties, and making 500 peanut butter sandwiches for area youth.

Soles4Souls collection for Dakota County HS student programThe team at APPRO and CERRON was thrilled help support these local students in some small way and applauds all their hard work to help make both our local and global community a better place in which to live, learn, work and ideally to thrive! Way to go Farmington High School students!!

The Youth Development group was featured on WCCO news, you may see their website here(scroll down to find the Games for Change story).

APPRO and CERRON Team Seeks “Sole-Mates”

APPRO and CERRON Team Currently Seeking Sole-Mates!

APPRO and CERRON offer site for Soles4Souls Kris Bockelman showing collection bin & Farmington newspaper article at APPRO and CERRON offices in Lakeville

APPRO and CERRON team members are excited to support a local Farmington High School student and her partnership with a non-profit group, Soles4Souls. Sydney Bockelman, along with her classmates, is part of Youth Development, a student organization, who in 2013 sought to collect 500 pairs of shoes, then more than exceeded their goal by collecting 900 pairs!

This year, in 2014, the Farmington Youth Development group’s goal is to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes for the nonprofit whose mission is “to fight the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty… by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those shoes and clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities. The term “micro-enterprise” describes an approach toward helping the poor and their communities by providing sustainable jobs to impoverished people through the creation of ultra-small (micro) businesses. This might mean, for example, a single table selling used shoes in an open marketplace. Or a street vendor with an inventory of used jeans spread out on a blanket.”

According to the Soles4 Souls website, “The difference we make in Haiti and other countries is in the opportunity for people to support themselves. The concept itself is simple, an embodiment of the old saying, ‘Give a man a fish, he will eat for day; give him a way to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime.'”

The entire APPRO & CERRON team is pleased to help support this effort by hosting a collection site for new or used shoes (with or without “sole-mates”) at our Lakeville office located at 21476 Grenada Avenue, Lakeville, MN. You will find a collection bin inside the front entryway of our building (stop in to say, “hello”, and get your donation sticker). We will be collecting until Friday, April 4th at 3:30 p.m. Our office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may also leave donations outside our front door, if you arrive before or after our regular office hours.

Thank you for helping the team at APPRO & CERRON find our Sole-Mates!