What do you do when you’re 12 years old and your friend dies from cancer? If you’re Dylan Johnson, you honor him. Dylan, a St. Luke’s sixth-grader, plans to collect 2,000 pairs of used athletic shoes for Dunk Your Kicks—which sells the shoes to developing nations for about a dollar a pair. The money earned goes toward pediatric leukemia research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center—where Dylan’s friend Kyle was treated.
It’s all part of Dylan’s “mitzvah project” where a child preparing for his Bar Mitzvah performs a good deed. “It’s a win, win, win situation” says Dylan. “It helps the environment because 200 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills each year. Second, it provides foot protection that helps prevent the spread of disease. But what I really like is it provides money for pediatric cancer research. This project is extra special to me because Kyle and I played sports together and he loved sneakers.”
Used athletic shoes and sneakers will be accepted in the St. Luke’s School lobby, 377 N.Wilton Rd., New Canaan, through April 11 (but no cleats please). Additional drop-off locations include: New Canaan Country School, 635 Frogtown Rd., New Canaan, and the Stamford Peace Basketball Club, 1051 Long Ridge Rd., Stamford. For more information, contact Erica Bailey at erica@maxcure.org.
