The buckets runneth over... with discarded sneakers for the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program last Saturday at Decas Elementary School.  But Tara DiGiantomaso, the Wareham High School junior who organized the fundraiser, said that many more shoes are on the way, so she decided to continue the collection for another week.

"We talked about two possible dates," said Laurie, Tara's mother. "People have the best of intentions, but they forget."

The program takes old sneakers and turns them into basketball courts for inner-city neighborhoods. This Saturday,Tara sat with her mother as a slow trickle of people brought bags full of sneakers. Although Tara had set up a booth to to inform people of the drive the previous week, many who had meant to contribute forgot.

With this in mind, Tara has decided to set up buckets at the soccer field at Decas this Saturday as well. Tara won't be there, but anyone who would like to put their dirty old kicks on track to becoming playground equipment in inner cities can drop them off there.

This community service project both is a great example of recycling in a way that benefits the community beyond the goal of creating less garbage.

Noah Young dropped off a bag on Saturday saying, "Rather than throwing then in dumps, they make something useful."

"I was doing some fall cleaning and I was going to throw them out," said Donna Richard, pointing out that one community's trash can give a boost to another.

Tara's project is also an example of the culture of volunteerism fostered by Wareham Youth Soccer, which Tara has been involved with from an early age.

"If it's not something that means something to them it can be hard for them to see the point," in volunteering according to Laurie. "She gave up a lot to do this."

By noon the buckets were overflowing with discarded footwear taking its first steps in a march to a new incarnation.