NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) at each of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) schools took part in the conference's first-ever shoe drive donation, collecting a total of 1,246 pairs of shoes during the two-month project.

CCIW institutions competed against one another in the collection of shoes from students, staff and faculty on campus and then donated them to a charity of their choice. Carthage collected the most pairs of shoes (433) to win the competition, followed by Wheaton (341), Illinois Wesleyan (175), Augustana (168), Elmhurst (84) and North Park (45).

The winner was announced at the CCIW’s inaugural Student-Athlete Workshop on Feb. 1-2, 2008, in Lake Geneva, Wis. Carthage received prize money for its SAAC organization, as well as a trophy featuring a gold-plated shoe.

"Each of the member schools who participated did a wonderful job and we're extremely happy with the outcome in our first year of conducting this service project," CCIW assistant commissioner Mike Krizman said. "We'll look to build on our success and continue conducting a conference-wide service project every year."