CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Two schools in Harrison County spent the last three months holding a shoe drive to benefit those in need. The results went well beyond their expectations.

Staff and students of Notre Dame High School and St. Mary’s Grade School reached out to the community for help with donations to their latest shoe drive and were beyond thrilled with the outcome. The intended goal at the start of the drive was 2,500 pairs of shoes, but by the time of pick up earlier this week, the schools had collected over 2,800 pairs to donate.

Collection of the shoes took place from Dec. 1 until March 15 to allow plenty of time before and after the holidays for those who wanted to donate after sorting through their closets and gathering potential donations.

Pam Leonard, Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Home and School Committee (HandS) Vice President spoke with 12 News about the drive. “It went beyond the walls of Saint Mary’s. We had students involved, we had families involved, we had community members involved, we had other organizations that wanted to support our project come in. So it really kind of broke down the walls of the school, invited in the community and now we’re going to have impact around the world.”

Leonard also said how she believes holding donation drives and giving back to those in need in this sort of fashion will not only leave a positive impact on the children, but on the environment as well.

She said, “it takes hundreds of years for one pair of athletic shoes to break down, so when we had pick up this week of our collections, those shoes weighed over 2,500 pounds. So one ton of shoes are no longer going to find themselves in a landfill.”

The schools hope to hold more donation events like this in the future.