Shoe Drive in need of support from the local community

The bank is in the middle of its 2025 Shoe Drive now, running March 1-31 at 206 Hwy 515 E in Blairsville. Support is rolling in, but the event could use even more shoes this year than last year. By comparison, the inaugural drive from 2023 resulted in over 250 pairs of shoes that were distributed at the back-to-school shoe fitting event in August of 2024. Currently, the bank has received around 20 pairs.

To make up the shortfall, the staff at River City Bank of Blairsville is aiming to inspire the community to join them in making sure the children of Union County Schools continue to have their footwear needs met so that every child can participate in school activities, pain free.

Bank customers and the community at large can help by donating new athletic shoes – no used shoes will be accepted as part of this event. And because the drive fills the need for students of all ages, people may purchase shoes of any size, from toddler to adult.

Of course, the bank accepts shoes all year long, as well as monetary donations to enable bank employees to buy shoes if members of the public would rather go that route, but March serves as the main organizing month for the drive.

As for common shoe tastes, River City Market President Scott Nanney said that many students seem to prefer solid color athletic shoes, but as long as they are new, and tennis or athletic shoes, the bank will accept them.

The Shoe Drive began in 2023 after the Blairsville bank branch learned that Union County Family Connection, which works closely with the schools to fill various student needs, was struggling to fulfill an increased demand for shoes.

As a community bank, River City views itself as a value-adding member of the community, which is why the bank jumped at the chance to work with Family Connection to replace tattered shoes that were “falling apart” with brand new ones that students could wear with confidence.

“That’s where we got involved and said, ‘Hey, what can we do?’” Nanney said. And what they did was establish the bank as a drop-off location for shoe donations while drumming up publicity for the drive to “create some momentum” for the effort.

“If you don’t have a business taking over something like this and running with the baton, then there’s not much initiative,” Nanney said. “With the traffic we have coming in here, and people seeing it in the newspaper – the generous members of the community drop off shoes and money – we can really make an impact.”

“We’ve had good stories, too,” added Nanney. “I’ll never forget, I had a guy from Cuba come in here, and he said, ‘I remember when I didn’t have any shoes when I came to this country, and it meant a lot to me when I got my first pair of shoes.’ And he donated $100.”

Like the man from Cuba who arrived here with nothing, the Shoe Drive is meant to assist students of families who find themselves, for whatever reason, on the lower rung of the socioeconomic ladder.

And Nanney, who grew up with limited means himself and had to doctor his own shoes to make it to the next pair as a child, knows that helping these students in this way makes a big difference in their lives.

“Something so cool as a pair of shoes can change a whole kid’s outlook,” Nanney said. “They look good, they feel good, and they perform better.

“What we’re trying to do is, No. 1, create awareness, and No. 2, appeal to people’s hearts to open up and say, ‘Yeah, I’d love to help out by giving a pair of shoes to a kid at the school level.’

“I’d like to get 250 pairs of shoes like we did the previous year; that would be great. We may not meet that, but we definitely won’t meet it at the rate we’re going right now, which is 20 pairs. The need is there, just, the quantity of shoes is not.”

That’s the reason Nanney and the entire staff at River City Bank hope the community will turn out in force to “help kids walk into a brighter future.”

In addition to the Shoe Drive, the bank hosts an annual Youth Art Show every March. Right now, people can walk into the bank lobby to view Union County student artwork showcasing a range of talent, from fiber arts to ceramics and everything in between.

“We’ll be having a banquet at the end of the month where kids will come in to show off their artwork,” Nanney said. The banquet features food and door prizes for the children, and above all, highlights the hard work of students who may not get the regular recognition that, say, athletes do.

“It helps these kids with the arts, and I think the arts is definitely a good thing for us to promote,” Nanney said. “That’s what we do; we donate quite a bit to the school system and local charities. And that’s what a community bank should do.”

So, this month, head on over to the bank Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to donate some new athletic shoes and support local student artists to boot via #YouthArtMonth.