What: As part of Drexel University’s Earth Day initiatives Drexel basketball players and members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will toss their old sneakers into a large bin to encourage the University community to donate old sneakers. The shoes will be recycled and turned into playground materials. The student-athlete driven initiative and event are part of Drexel’s Earth Day Educational Fair, which will educate students, faculty and staff on environmental issues and solutions. Who: Members of the Drexel Dragons men’s and women’s basketball and other teams will take on students in a friendly competition as part of the recycling effort. Bragging rights will go to the player or student who can toss his or her sneakers into a newspaper-covered cardboard bin from the farthest distance out. Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, Drexel executive vice president and chief of staff, will also give it a go in the competition.Visuals: Blue and Gold balloon towers… the large cardboard bin wrapped in newspapers… Drexel student athletes distributing handouts on environmental issues… Drexel basketball players competing in sneaker tosses… Oxholm tossing his sneakers… food and music… tables from campus organizations promoting “green” initiatives… students registering for the Fairmount Park clean-up on April 12.When: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 from 12:30 to 1 p.m. The fair is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Where: Drexel’s Quad, 33rd Street between Chestnut and Market Streets.Background: Sneaker donors will receive a complimentary eco-friendly bottle of FRED (a new bottled water) as a thank-you. The Philadelphia Squash Racquets Association, the region’s squash organization, joined Drexel student-athletes in reaching out to its membership to assist in this project, collecting used sneakers at all member clubs throughout the Delaware Valley. The PSRA is strong supporter of SquashSmarts, a program for underserved urban youth headquartered at Drexel that links academic tutoring to academic prowess in squash. News Media Contact: Niki Gianakaris, Assistant Director, Drexel News Bureau 215-895-6741, 215-778-7752 (cell) or ngianakaris@drexel.edu
