Aya Abelon, a public information officer at Cerritos College who was born in Japan, is collecting shoes to donate to Japanese people struggling in the aftermath of the 9.0 earthquake that occurred on March 11.

“I’m from Japan, and that’s my home country, so it really affects me. There’s not much we can do here, other than monetary donations.

“But I just wanted to do something larger than that. One of my friends emailed me about a shoe drive, and I thought that maybe we could do something here,” she said.

The shoe drive is being handled by Soles4Souls, an organization that has distributed more than 12 million pairs of shoes to those in need since 2005.

Elizabeth Kirk, director of communications for the charity, stressed the importance of shoes in the aftermath of disaster.

“When a natural disaster happens, individuals lose all or most of their belongings, including shoes. Shoes [are] a necessity in order to get back to normal life, whether it is work or school,” Kirk said.

Abelon said she checks Japanese news sites every day, and found that children’s shoes are most needed at the moment.

“Some kids just evacuate from the school site and in Japan they use slipper-like shoes, which are really thin, so it’s really cold. It’s [less than] 30 degrees out there in the disaster area right now, and it’s snowing.

“I have two kids and it’s just heartbreaking for me. And that’s why I’m asking for children’s shoes especially.”

Daniel Lozano, administration of justice major, said that it’s great that Abelon is trying to help others.

“I already donated blood for Japan. It’s a good thing that others are considering to help Japan,” he said.

Abelon said that she was fortunate that her family in Japan wasn’t in the disaster zone, so they weren’t as affected excluding power outages and gas shortage.

Business management major Anique Kennard said she planned to donate a pair of shoes.

“I feel good that she’s doing something to help Japan.”

Anthropology professor Jeff Rigby, who had planned to take 13 students to Japan before the disaster, said collecting shoes is a wonderful idea.

“Even though a lot of our own students are undergoing financial difficulties, everybody has used pairs of shoes, shoes that sit around in the garage and things like this that they certainly could donate,” Rigby said.

He continued, “I think especially under the circumstances, with a lot of students not having a lot of money these days, this is one thing everybody could do very easily to help these people out.”

Rigby said that the Japan trip was originally rescheduled to June 9.

“There wasn’t an interest after the earthquake and after the nuclear issue over there, and I decided I didn’t want to put students in harms way.

“So that’s why I canceled the trip,” he said.

Rigby also mentioned that despite the cancelation of the Japan trip he will be taking students to Israel for nine days from July 29 to Aug. 6 that costs students a little more than $3000.

“That’s going to be a fabulous trip,” he said.

Duval Silva, psychology major, shared his thoughts about Abelon’s efforts.

“I think what Aya Abelon is doing is something that should be admired; for her dedication, for her countrymen.

“There are always more things to do to help out, but what I think they’re doing right now is pretty good considering the economic position everybody’s in, the rumors about class [cost] going up and dropping,”

Kirk said that Soles4Souls is working with a third party that has shipping containers filled with shoes in Indonesia ready to deliver once the Japanese government is prepared to receive it.

She also said it is important for people to do something to help.

“Whether it’s hosting a shoe drive or getting your community involved, it is important to remember that all the small thoughts and actions really do make a difference during times like these.”