I'll be out Monday after your new "shoemometer" is installed to get some pictures to post

Hello. We are collecting shoes at Oswego Chiropractic/Oswego Massage & Rehab at 73 W.Van Buren. Right around the corner from Dairy Hut, the big blue building. Our patients have been very generous with their donations.

Nice work Pat. I have been fielding calls from my fellow co-workers at Cat and have collected a few, but have commitment for a lot of shoes. And glad you hit up the school Oswego, now it needs to spread over to East and even maybe to Aurora High Schools as well.

Good morning;

One suggestion, with the football season kicking off tonight, it might be too late, but putting a few volunteer collectors in front of the gates might gain several more contributions.

John...what be great is that some people just go there and hand out flyers and let people know where the businesses that are taking in shoes and where Pat lives to so they can drop them off.

Thank you everyone! I feel the momentum is really building now. That's a great idea about going to the game and handing out flyers. Unfortunately, I'm not able to go there tonight. I'm trying to "baby" my knee. I couldn't walk on Wednesday night I was in such pain! I'm hoping someone can come up with some more suggestions of how to get more monetary donations. Right now I only have enough to print the 2,977 name plaques and maybe $150.00 left after that. The plaques are the most important so they'll be taken care of first. I might have to come up with a different idea for the signage. Any suggetions? Thanks.

Pat -- This morning I forwarded this article to our Home & School President at Traughber asking if she thought Dr. Kober would consider collecting shoes at the school for the next week or so. She immediately sent it on to him ... he in turn made an announcement regarding it to the students/staff in at the end of school today! WOW! I am truly impressed. It really shows how this community as a whole will come together for something like this.
I have shoes to drop off this week and I'll check with Dr. Kober on picking up any shoes that are donated at Traughber.
How much $ do you still need for the things you want to do?
When are you getting together to put the name plaques together?

Kathy in one of Pat's other blogs she posted how much she needed still you can search for it on here in the search bar

Pat I have a few things in the works and are trying to raise some funds for you. And yes they are all perfectly legal. Lol

Gosh, I'm so excited about all of this. It's amazing how many people are getting onboard. We've got Oswego High School, Traughber Jr. High, Bednarcik Jr. High, Somonauk Middle School, many businesses and individuals. I'm hoping the high school kids (sorry...young adults) can pitch in with man-hours to help with set-up, take-down and manning the corners as hosts. Maybe those football players need some extra lifting excercises? How bout it?

Hey Pat - just wondering... what's happening with the shoes afterwards?

Rebecca they will be donated to the the Purple Hearts, Salvation Army, Kendall county food Pantry, AmVets, Goodwill, just name a few that will be getting the donated shoes.

Pat-
Get a sponsor for the signage. Either get a local sign company to create or another business to spnosor your signage in exchange for sending a press release about who they are & allowing them to print a small line on the bottom of all signage like: "Signs Provided By XYZ Sign Company, Oswego."

I saw your story in the Ledger and your memorial prompted me to go through my family's shoe bin by the front door. We donated about 7 pairs and placed them on the rack outside Village Grind. Thanks for the fabulous reason to get organized now!

You also might want to check with local churches for kids who need service hours to help you with setting up. (The Catholic church asks the 8th graders getting confirmed to have a certain number of service hours.) Youth groups would be another great resource for you!

Good luck-- I know you'll get your shoes, signs & everything else you need for such a worthy memorial.

Hi Pat,

You are incredible and truly an inspiration. It was so nice meeting & chatting with you today! Diane Baum, Good Shepherd

Great! Pat - can I also recommend "Soles for "Souls" as another possible donation site? I am happy to transport (stinky) shoes as well!
http://www.soles4souls.org/

Pat - We will also accept shoe donations at our office on the corner of Madison and Washington (5 E. Washington) and have placed a message on our monument sign. Have you found anyone to donate signage yet?