Early in the 2004-2005 school year, Glendale Adventist Academy (GAA) students in the school’s National Honor Society (NHS) focused on shoes and boxes for two community service projects. The NHS sponsored two major opportunities: a Thanksgiving shoe drive and a Christmas box project.

Inspired by the story of Kristina Radnoti, who, as a teenager, founded “Sole Purpose: Shoes for the Homeless,” NHS officers proposed collecting shoes for Los Angeles area homeless shelters and homes for battered women for a Thanksgiving shoe drive. Academy and elementary students, teachers and staff responded with overwhelming enthusiasm. As word of the shoe drive spread, other organizations asked to donate, including Pico Rivera Bilingual Adventist Church and students at Cherub’s Learning Center and Linda Vista Adventist Elementary School (LVAES).

By the final day of the drive, 1,621 pairs of shoes had been collected, surpassing the original goal of 1,000 pairs. NHS members had the opportunity to deliver the donated shoes to the Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day as part of the Mission’s holiday program.

Even before the shoe drive was completed, NHS students began the Christmas box project. For this, they collected names of Adventist children serving with their missionary parents around the world as part of the General Conference or of Adventist Frontier Missions. Students wrote letters to the children and packed shoeboxes full of Christmas presents.

Cherub’s and LVAES participated by integrating the project into their curriculum, visiting stores to buy gifts while applying mathematical concepts and practicing money management. Students filled 36 shoeboxes for mission children. Generous donations of Pico Rivera Bilingual church members helped with shipping costs to ensure that the boxes arrived in time for Christmas.