IRMO, S.C. — The family of a runner, Dianne Wells, who was struck by a car and killed five years ago, is collecting donations of shoes in her memory.
Several businesses in the Lexington community, including Loveland Coffee in Irmo, are coming together to become collection sites for shoes in memory of Dianne Wells.
Her husband, Joey Wells, said collecting the shoes has been healing for his family.
"My wife passed away in December of 2018, she's a runner, a big runner here in town," Wells said. "At the accident site where she was struck right afterward, the running community created a memorial so to speak on the side of the road, and it was really just a collection of shoes it was around Christmas time so it almost became a shoe tree, and it was there for gosh a few weeks and we decided we've got to do something with it."
Instead of keeping the shoes as a memorial for Dianne, the family donated them to the Soles4Souls program, which recycles shoes and clothing to help people and young athletes in need.
"From 2018, which was not planned and not organized, and it was all of maybe 15 or 20 pairs, to last year, it was over 3,000 pairs of shoes, which is insane. It's super awesome to get to do it, and it's something that the kids and I can do. We always start on Dec. 18, the day she passed away, to Jan. 28, which is her birthday," Wells said.
Beach Loveland, the owner of Loveland Coffee, said he is happy his shop can be a part of the program by collecting donations and hopes to continue helping for years to come.
"We just knew we wanted to be a part of it, and knew we wanted to be a part of that cause. we provided coffee for the runners for the 5k last year and we'll probably do it again this year as well," Loveland said.
Through every pair of shoes, Wells said they are racing toward more awareness for runners' safety.
"It brings awareness to the running community, to let people know that people are out on the roads, and for people to watch out for them, you know you've got to be aware, a lot of active people in town and… you know it's really cool. It came from a tragedy but it's all something that we can be a part of that helps carry on the legacy," Wells said.
There will be a 5k Race in Dianne's honor called "Be the Buffalo Memorial Run for Digits and Needle." The event will take place on Saturday, Jan. 27, starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending around 10 a.m. Registration is $45.