Cindy Ceracche was a bit skeptical at first. For the group’s first shoe drive fundraiser, a fellow Twin Tiers Honor Flight volunteer invited Cindy and several others to her home to sort a giant pile of shoes on her deck. They matched the pairs, rubber-banded them together, and put 25 pairs in each bag. “I think we ended up collecting over 100 bags and then we saw the check!” Cindy wrote to Funds2Orgs in January 2026.
The group kept its shoe drive fundraiser for veterans going for years. Funds2Orgs records list 11 drives from 2018 through 2025, at least one a year. Together, they raised more than $25,000 to help fund the group’s trips to Washington, D.C.
When the volunteer who started the drives stepped away, Cindy and fellow volunteer Bonnie took over in honor of their fathers. Their experience offers practical lessons for an Honor Flight hub, a veterans post, or any volunteer-led group considering a nonprofit shoe drive fundraiser.
A volunteer nurse and a skeptical start
Twin Tiers Honor Flight takes veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit their memorials. The Binghamton, New York, nonprofit is part of the national Honor Flight Network, and its website said in October 2026 that veterans travel completely free.
Cindy first joined as a volunteer nurse to provide medical care on a mission. At one of the group’s meetings, another volunteer talked about collecting shoes to earn money. That volunteer had found Funds2Orgs. The first drive was very chaotic, Cindy wrote.
The packing routine from that first drive is the one our shoe drive fundraiser FAQ asks every group to follow: keep each pair together with a rubber band or tied laces, and pack 25 pairs in each 33-gallon bag.
Two volunteers step up in honor of their fathers
Later, the volunteer who started the drives stopped volunteering, and someone needed to take her place. Bonnie told Cindy, “…if you do it, I will help.”
Both women’s fathers were veterans, and they decided to run the fundraisers in their honor. Cindy’s father passed away before Honor Flight was up and running. Bonnie’s father went on an Honor Flight mission, which Cindy called the “trip of a lifetime.”
Once the two saw how easy a shoe drive fundraiser with Funds2Orgs could be, Cindy wrote, they were hooked.
At later meetings, Cindy and Bonnie asked other volunteers to collect shoes for them. In her January 2026 reply, Cindy wrote that a core group of volunteers regularly collects “massive amounts of shoes,” and a storage unit near her home holds them. She added that folks are generous about donating shoes for such a good cause.
What 11 shoe drive fundraisers added up to
Funds2Orgs records show that those 11 drives filled 2,071 bags and earned $25,014. The largest, in 2023, filled 299 bags. The 2025 drive added 188 bags and $2,435.
In the same reply, Cindy estimated that an overnight bus mission costs around $35,000. She and Bonnie planned to raise enough money to fund one, then turn the shoe drive fundraiser over to younger volunteers.
Where the money goes and where the shoes go
For Twin Tiers Honor Flight, the money from each shoe drive fundraiser helps fund trips that take veterans to see their memorials. The shoes take a different path, and explaining both helps when a supporter asks where their shoes end up.
Funds2Orgs pays by the pound after we receive and weigh the shoes at our warehouse. The shoes enter a resale network in the reuse economy where micro-entrepreneurs buy and resell them in their communities to earn a living. Our social enterprise explanation describes how that process works.
Help from the logistics team and a fundraising coach
Cindy wrote that Funds2Orgs had been very supportive every step of the way: the staff is helpful anytime she calls, the logistics team makes it easy to schedule a pickup, and “the checks are issued in a timely fashion.”
The relationship has a personal side too. In fall 2025, Cindy met her fundraising coach, Donna, for lunch, and Donna gave her a shoe costume: a big red sneaker.
Planning your own shoe drive fundraiser for veterans
If your group isn’t sure where to start, Twin Tiers Honor Flight’s story points to four building blocks. Set a goal tied to a real cost, such as a bus mission. Recruit collectors at your own meetings, as Cindy and Bonnie did, and ask supporters to donate gently worn, used and new shoes. Choose one storage spot and write down your packing and pickup routine. Then decide who will take over if an organizer steps back.
Explore how Funds2Orgs shoe drive fundraisers work before you set your first collection date. When your group is ready, start your shoe drive fundraiser and plan it with a Funds2Orgs fundraising coach.
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