A driver for Funds2orgs poses in the back of the delivery truck with bags of shoes donated to support the Abbey family of Brocton. To benefit the Abbey family of Brocton, 106 bags of shoes were donated to Funds2orgs as a fundraiser. Submitted photo

BROCTON — After months of hard work, a delivery truck finally arrived in Brocton to receive a donation of shoes to benefit a local family.

The response was more than anyone expected when the process began.

A shoe drive was held through Funds2orgs, coordinated by Brocton community activist Beckie Ross, to benefit Ryan Abbey and his family as Ryan battles leukemia.

“I was overwhelmed by it all,” Ross said of the response from the community. “It wasn’t just people in Brocton … it’s everywhere around us.”

Ryan Abbey is currently in remission after he was diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia just over a year ago. He is home in Brocton now, with doctors’ visits spread further apart now than in recent months, but he is still unable to return to work. With the loss of income for the family, coupled with travel, lodging, and other costs from receiving treatment in Buffalo, the village of Brocton and nearby communities have done their part to support the family. A spaghetti dinner and a t-shirt campaign have also been held in the past year to assist the family.

According to its website, Funds2orgs is the nation’s largest shoe drive fundraising company. Funds2orgs accepts new or lightly-used shoes in exchange for a monetary return to assist with charitable efforts. The shoes are then distributed to micro-enterprise shops around the world, where they are sold at an affordable price.

Before the shoe drive began, Ross set a goal of 100 bags full of shoes, which would total 2,500 pairs of shoes. Typically, an average delivery for Funds2orgs is between 40-50 bags.

“I was skeptical about getting there, but we did it,” Ross said. “I’m so thrilled with the response.”

In total, 106 bags were filled completely, with a total of 2,633 total pairs donated.

“It just never died down,” Ross said. “There were maybe 1-2 days a week where I didn’t get somebody dropping some off or where I went to pick some up.”

Ross joked that she “learned a lot about shoes” through the process, noting that a bag of men’s shoes are dramatically heavier than women’s or children’s shoes.

The bags donated were taken to be weighed by Funds2orgs, which provides 40 cents per pound in return. “The check is on the way,” Ross said.