The Woodwardettes Oklahoma Home and Community Education (OHCE) group is encouraging everyone to catch “Flip Flop Mania.”
“Flip Flop Mania” is what the Woodwardettes are calling their latest community service project as they are collecting flip flops that will be donated to Northwest Domestic Crisis Services (NWDCS).
“The project was brought to my attention through a friend who heard that the crisis center was needing flip flops,” said project chair and Woodwardettes vice president June Davis.
So Davis contacted NWDCS Volunteer Coordinator Janet Fitz to see if a flip flop donation drive would be appreciated.
Fitz said she was thrilled with the offer.
“I think it’s awesome that (these) ladies have taken this on,” she said, noting that the project will not only help provide supplies for the center, but also serves to increase community awareness about an important issue.
Fitz explained that the flip flops will be distributed to rape victims who receive treatment at the major hospitals in the crisis center’s 10-county district. These hospitals include Woodward Regional Hospital, Newman Memorial Hospital in Shattuck, and Memorial Hospital of Texas County.
Fitz noted that “in 2008, with all of our counties, we had about 30 (rape) victims.”
The crisis center has provided clothing to victims for a number of years, she said, explaining that “it’s so they’ll have clothing when they leave after their clothes have been taken (as evidence) for the crime committed on them.”
However, she said the center never thought about collecting any shoes to give to the victims until one case that occurred this past winter.
“The hospital had a victim who was raped in a field, so they (law enforcement officials) took her shoes for the crime evidence kit,” Fitz said. “We didn’t have any shoes to give her, so I vowed that we would have shoes from now on.”
She said she chose flip flops because “they will be easy for (her) to store.”
And because flip flops are often inexpensive, costing only a dollar or two in some stores, Davis said she believes the shoe collection effort can be really successful.
“Everybody can put a pair in their shopping cart at the store and not even know they bought an extra item because they’re so inexpensive,” she said.
The Woodwardettes kicked the collection efforts off by donating a few dozen pairs of flip flops to the crisis center Thursday afternoon.
The women are now asking other members of the public to follow suit and donate new flip flops at one of two drop-off locations in Woodward: the OSU Extension office and the Woodward News. The shoe drive will continue throughout the month of May.
Woodwardettes president Marian Stout said she would encourage everyone to get involved because “everybody at one time or another has a friend or a sister that needs help.”
“Together with these flip flops maybe we can make a difference in our community in some small way,” Stout said.
