Oakland University’s cross-country team members are taking great strides in Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program by donating all sorts of used shoes this semester.

After hearing about the program last year, Coach Paul Rice said the runners were interested in participating and planned to join this fall.

Since the university teams wear Nike products and gear, “we thought it was a good fit,” Rice said.

The team has set up used running shoe donation boxes in the Oakland Center, as well as the Recreation Center.

In an effort to not overwhelm the reycling process, Nike has requested that donations be limited to 200 shoes at a time. Rice predicts the quota will be met by the end of this month.

This is the first year that the team has participated in the program, but Rice hopes to make it a yearly tradition as a way to kick off the school year, he said.

The Reuse-A-Shoe program began in 1990 as a way to utilize recycling.  The program embraces an unusual form of recycling, taking worn and torn shoes and making them into key ingredient materials for new running track surfaces, as well as for the foundation of basketball courts and tennis courts.

The program has already collected and recycled more than 25 million individual shoes nationwide since it started.

There are many components of the recycled shoes that can be ground into a usable form. Material from the rubber soles will be used to resurface running tracks at high schools and middle schools, the fabric will be used in the padding layer of basketball courts and the foam material will be utilized in the springy surface of tennis courts, according to the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe website.

The Nike program is not the only community activity OU students are participating in this semester.

OU Student Council will host its first annual, benefit golf outing on Monday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m.  Students are required to sign up at the Center for Student Activities window in the basement of the Oakland Center, and the fee is $55.  All proceeds will go to the OU Center for Biomedical Research.

The Greek community will participate in an American Red Cross blood drive this week on Tuesday, Sept. 28 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Oakland Room of the Oakland Center.

For more information, visit the CSA community service page on the OU website.