Louisville Water Stepped Up the Competition

Louisville Water employees stepped up big time with donations to help provide access to clean drinking water for those in need. While Louisville Water and MSD collect shoes year-round for WaterStep, the OneWater partners decided to go toe to toe for a “shoe war” in the month of June.

The Louisville Water Service Board took on the challenge and spread the word to employees across the company.

“Basically clean out your closets, help fill up those WaterStep donation boxes, and let’s win! All in good fun of course,” said Communications Specialist Kathleen Speicher, a member of the Service Board.

“It was a friendly competition but at the end of the day, all the shoes benefit a cause we’re very passionate about: providing clean water access to countries who need it. Everyone deserves safe, clean water.”

The response was overwhelming. Employees at all four Louisville Water locations donated new and gently used pairs of shoes. A couple boxes had to be emptied a few times to make room for more. In early July, a WaterStep volunteer loaded several bags into his donation van and hauled them off to be weighed.

“Wowza – incredible response! Thank you!!!” exclaimed WaterStep Director of Community Engagement Pam Alaimo, when she shared the results with Louisville Water and MSD.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw 337 pounds,” Speicher said. “I was definitely hoping we would win, but I was beaming with pride to see the power of teamwork, generosity, and compassion.”

Together, Louisville Water and MSD collected more than 500 pounds of shoes! Those are shoes that will stay out of the landfills and help fund WaterStep projects that range from providing training in communities to equipment or installing a water system.