West-side shoe store celebrates with grand opening tonight

Pathfinders Birkenstock will celebrate the grand opening of its west Wichita store from 7 to 9 this evening. The store, at 10555 W. 21st, Suite 400, is just south of New Market Square.

The grand opening will also be a benefit for Soles4Souls, an organization that donates shoes to people in need. Customers are invited to bring a used pair of shoes in good condition to the grand opening. Those donating shoes will receive a discount on a pair of new shoes from Pathfinders.

Deckers gets help from local kids

When Deckers pledged to support Soles4Souls with a quarter million pair of shoes, many to be delivered to kids in Sudan and Hondurus, they had no idea that some of their biggest contributors would be...well...kids. Lauguna Blanca, a grade school in the Santa Barbara area decided to participate in the Deckers community footwear drive. Over the past three weeks they have been collecting shoes and have helped in raising over 200 pairs towards Decker's goal. Last Tuesday, they presented their donations to the Deckers CEO, Angel Martinez, who was onsite to thank the kids for their generosity.

So far, this brings the grand total to over 20,000 pairs towards this awesome effort. It is this type of contribution that Lauguna Blanca grade school has made that can make a BIG difference to the needy around the world. Great job Lauguna Blanca!

Deckers Joins Soles4Souls Million Pair March With A Goal To Collect 250,000 Pairs Locally

Deckers Outdoor Corporation is proud to support Soles4Souls Million Pair March campaign by mobilizing the local community to collect 250,000 of new and used footwear. Collected shoes from the Million Pair March will be distributed to individuals in disaster-driven areas like the Gulf Coast and the Third World like Sudan and Honduras. Since their start over 30 years ago, Deckers has strived to find balance in their environmental responsibilities and business practices.

"Deckers Outdoor Corporation is filled with compassionate people who have a huge heart for reaching out to their community and the world at large," said Wayne Elsey, Founder of Soles4Souls. "Since our very beginning they have been instrumental in helping us reach millions of people, and we are humbled by their incredible participation in this campaign."

Members of the Santa Barbara community can join Deckers in their mission by donating new, old or unwanted footwear at numerous locations around the Santa Barbara area. Thus far, drop off bins for footwear donations are available at the Deckers Goleta based office, Santa Barbara Zoo, UCSB Bren School, and our partnering retailers like Santa Barbara Outfitters and Santa Barbara Running Co.

"If we look in our closets, we might be embarrassed by the number of shoes we own that rarely, if ever, get worn." Says Angel Martinez, CEO and President of Deckers Outdoor Corp. "Why not donate those pairs to people in need? And the best part for us shoe lovers is that we then get to buy some new shoes, guilt-free!"

Tip Top Shoes & KEEN Footwear collect shoes

New York - 'Your extra pair could be their first pair'. That was the slogan last weekend at Tip Top Shoes as Soles4Souls boxes began filling up with new and used shoes. Tip Top shoes joined KEEN Footwear in hosting a shoe drive for people in need. Tip Top Shoes shares KEEN's philosophy that supporting good causes is an obligation of financial success.

KEEN Footwear has a business model built on a responsibility to the community and a commitment to doing good with the resources they have. Above all, they stand for turning ideals into actions. On May 26th and 27th, their ideals went into action at Tip Top shoes.

The KEEN Foundation was created with organizations such as Soles4Souls in mind. They partner with environmental and social organizations in striving to make a difference, of taking an individual impulse and creating a community around it. More information on this shoe drive will be released soon!

Collection drive of soles will help world’s souls

TuscaloosaNews.com - There comes a time in every pair of shoes’ life when they need to walk out of your life and into someone else’s. So donate them to someone who the shoes fit, and let them feel useful again.

From Sunday, May 27th until the end Thursday, Trinity United Methodist Church on Paul W. Bryant Boulevard in Tuscaloosa will have a collection box set up in the parking lot for shoe donations benefiting Soles4Souls.

"The type of shoes donated don't really matter," said Mary Ann Robbins with University of Alabama Libraries. "They can be new with the price tag still attached or older and used. The condition doesn’t matter, just as long as each shoe still has sole."

Soles4Souls has collected and donated more than 900,000 pairs of shoes to the victims of Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina. Once the shoes are collected, they are inspected for suitability, sorted by size and gender, packaged into Soles4Souls boxes, shrink-wrapped and sent to people all over the world.

"Shoes of any kind are welcome: flip flops, sandals, tennis shoes, dress shoes and children’s shoes are always in high demand," said Robins. "Folks can drive up in our parking lot, toss their shoes in and drive on without getting out of their car."

Christian Family Radio hosting shoe drive

Bowling Green, KY - WCVK (90.7) announced that they will be hosting a shoe drive for Soles4Souls that will last until the end of June. The shoes will be delivered to poverty stricken areas of Sudan in late July.


"Our goal is to have a million pair of shoes shipped to that region by the end of the year," stated founder and CEO of Soles4Soles, Wayne Elsey. "You can see sixty to seventy thousand people with basically nothing in one of the many refugee camps in Sudan. We are putting a pair of shoes on their feet to give them a firm foundation and to let them know that we care about them."


More than 300 million children around the world do not have a single pair of shoes. Yet Americans have more than 1.5 billion pairs of unwanted shoes in their closets. You can make a difference by donating new or gently worn shoes or flip-flops in mens, womens and childrens of all sizes. Participants can drop off their shoes at the CFR Studios in Bowling Green, Lifeway Christian store in Owensboro or Papa John's in Glasgow.

Soles4Souls Announces Shoe Drive at the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon

Soles4Souls is continuing its effort to receive 1 million pairs of shoes to be shipped to the Sudan for the "Million Pair March". The Nashville-based charity announced that they will be conducting a shoe drive at the 10th annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon finish line on Sunday, June 3, 2007 in order to receive shoes from the runners for the charity's Million Pair March campaign.

The Million Pair March campaign is dedicated to raising 1 million dollars to ship 1 million pairs of shoes to the Sudan and the surrounding areas. Soles4Souls volunteers will be at the marathon's Health and Fitness Expo, Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3, at the San Diego Convention Center handing out brochures and information on how people can get involved with the charity.
Soles4Souls will be manning drop boxes and the Soles4Souls delivery truck will be at the finish line so that runners and spectators may donate their shoes to this worthy cause. Soles4Souls is asking people to each donate one pair of new or 'gently worn' shoes and/or money for shipping the shoes to the Sudan, a notoriously poverty- and war-stricken area of the world. The first drop is scheduled for the Fall 2007 in the refugee camps of Southern Sudan, with more to follow.

"We are excited to be a part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon again," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "The Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon was a huge success and we look forward to watching more runners cross the finish line and hopefully receiving their worn shoes to help others in need. We would also like to thank Elite Racing for helping us reach out to the running community and share our mission," Elsey said.

The Million Pair March has already been endorsed by many of Hollywood's celebrities, including Don Cheadle, Jessica Alba, Melissa Rivers, and Scarlett Johansson, who graciously had Reebok donate 2,000 pairs of shoes in her name to the cause.

Customers who Donate Gently Worn Shoes to Receive $25 Off New Brighton Footwear

Most of us have a lot of shoes we no longer wear. In fact, according to one estimate, more than one billion pair of shoes lay idle in American closets. Yet there are millions of people both here in the United States and around the world in desperate need of footwear.

That is why Brighton Collectibles is teaming up with Soles4Souls, the international charity dedicated to providing free footwear to people in desperate need, to provide a basic, yet indispensable gift that most of us take for granted: the gift of shoes.

Simply bring in a pair of gently worn shoes to any Brighton Collectibles store in America on Friday or Saturday, June 15th and 16, 2007 and receive $25 off a pair of new Brighton shoes. All the footwear collected during this special charitable event will go to Soles4Souls.

“We are honored to be partnering with such a worthy organization,” said Jerry Kohl, owner and president of Brighton Collectibles, Inc. “The founders of Soles4Souls saw a need and decided to do something about it, making a difference in the lives of millions of people.”

Soles4Souls has to date, donated over 2.5 Million pairs of shoes to people in over 30 plus countries around the world through donations from footwear companies, retailers, churches, nonprofit ministries, civic groups, schools, and individuals.

“We are delighted that Brighton has chosen to partner with Soles4Souls. The shoes donated by their customers will really make a great difference in the lives of those that receive them.” said Wayne Elsey, Soles4Souls founder and CEO “The gift of shoes can be such a powerful thing, often we don’t realize how many people both at home and abroad are without even a single pair of shoes.”

The partnership with Soles4Souls is the latest in a series of successful charitable initiatives that Brighton has sponsored in recent years. Since 2003, the company has been designing a special piece of jewelry for breast cancer awareness month in October. Brighton’s Power of Pink initiative has raised more than $2 million for breast cancer research.

To find a Brighton Collectibles store near you, visit http://www.brighton.com/. For more information on shoe donations, visit www.soles4souls.org.

Soles4Souls donates Crocs to local Students

As reported on WKRN and WSMV news in Nashville, students at Rosebank Elementary received a special treat Tuesday before letting out for summer break. Soles4Souls gave each child at the school a new pair of Crocs. The students were overjoyed by the gift. The shoes are very popular with kids of all ages. They are soft and comfortable, they are very easy slip into and kids love their bright colors.

"It's awesome", stated Wayne Elsey. "You know what, I've been in the shoe business for 27 years, CEO of several shoe companies and nothing is more gratifying than seeing these kids leave here all excited."

Mayor Bill Purcell and former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. also attended the event.

Soles4Souls featured on Kansan.com

The University of Kansas newspaper, The Daily Kansan, featured Soles4Souls as an alternative to relieving students of unwanted shoes as opposed to selling them on Ebay or simply throwing them out in the trash. Jennifer Farwell, a student at UK, found more than one benefit by donating her shoes.
"Not only does it feel good to shed some unused stuff, the benefits of donating are that someone is going to get use out of something you don't need anymore," said Farwell. "It's nice to give other people items you know they'll use."

The Daily Kansan also featured other organizations for donation. Students can donate old text books to Books For Africa, a non profit that distributes much needed educational supplies to impoverished regions in Africa. They can also donate to Dress for Success, which provides business attire and accessories for disadvantaged women to wear to job interviews and build a professional wardrobe.

Concert to benefit Soles4Souls

KCRW (89.9) out of Los Angeles will be presenting a benefit concert for Soles4Souls. The show will be on Monday, May 21st and held at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Around a dozen up-and-coming artists will perform, including AM (shown right), Tim Jones, Greg Laswell, Meiko, Carina Round, Libbie Shrader and Brian Wright, among others.

The cost of admission is will be a new or barely worn pair of shoes and a 5 dollar donation to go to Soles4Souls. Show begins at 7 and may last a while. So come kick off your shoes and join the fun. Additional information at www.hotelcafe.com.

Piperlime Auction Getting Attention (HURRY...the Auction lasts until May 14th!)

Below are links to the additional Piperlime Auction placements we have received. Check it out!

• Forbes.com
• Wall Street Journal.com
• MSN.com, Money Journal
• AOL.com, Money News
• 8b2b.com, Business News
• The Daily Obsession

.......and from Styphile.com:

Sole Train
When the world hands you limes, make Piperlimeade. Gap’s new online shoe destination, Piperlime, is hosting a celebrity auction through May 14. Originally created to benefit hurricane and tsunami victims, charity Soles4Souls collects and then donates shoes to those in need. In this case, the charity is auctioning off items like Lucy Liu’s wooden sandals, Sharon Stone’s Dior logo pumps, Teri Hatcher’s Bettye Muller pumps, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s signed Adidas sneakers and Jessica Simpson’s black leather Ultra Glam boots. So you can walk a mile in a celebrity’s shoes—just look out for paparazzi. Piperlime.com

KANSAS Tornado Update

[From Paul Wilson, President of Soles4Souls OUTREACH]

We are working to get into Greensburg, KS to help victims of the tornadoes there. We are working with Brown Shoe Fit Co., area churches, radio and TV station, and Operation Compassion for shoe distribution in Kansas.

It is still just a little early to have a plan in concrete as so many people are displaced and the area is shut down completely to outside groups. Relief teams hope to be operating in full force by Wednesday (5-9), which will give us the infrastructure we need to distribute shoes. A local college and high school about 12 miles away may be our best point of distribution.

We will keep you posted with final plans.

--Paul Wilson

The Benefit for Biltmore Place

"To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up and thank each of you for your time, talents, efforts, generosity, et cetera that each of you and your families gave to the Benefit for Biltmore Place to help the residents affected by the fire at the Biltmore Place Apartments and others like them. We rose +/- $1300 for the Red Cross that evening. In addition, we filled two trailers full of clothing for the Help Center at the Donelson Church of Christ and nearly one-half of a trailer of food for the Donelson-Hermitage Satellite of the Second Harvest Food Bank. Soles4Souls also agreed to supply all of the residents affected by the fire with a new pair of shoes. Most importantly, we were able to show our neighbors that we care about their well-being. May God bless our actions and use them to further spread the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ. Blessings to you all!"

Chad Yates
First Baptist Church Donelson
Nashville, TN

Spring Cleaning! Shoes Anyone?

[From Kira Krayk at Bear Valley Sports ShopBear Valley, CA]

In our continuous efforts to go green we are doing a shoe drive in concert with an organization called Soles4Souls. We are interested in collecting your "gently" worn shoes. We are sending them to Soles4Souls who then distributes the shoes to underpriviliged... communities world wide.

Please visit www.soles4souls.org for more details, or call the Bear Valley Sport Shop (209) 753-2844. Keep us in mind as you purge your house of the winter's accumulated clutter. Bring as many pairs of shoes as you want; any shoes work, snow boots, dress shoes, casual shoes, professional shoes and most importantly athletic shoes.

As a way to say thank you for your participation in this shoe drive we are offering 15% off a new pair of shoes when you bring in your old "gently worn" shoes!

Step Into a Star's Shoes with Piperlime

If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to walk a mile in a celebrity's shoes, now is your chance. Piperlime, the GAP online shoe shop announced that it will host an online celebrity shoe auction to benefit its exclusive charitable partner, Soles4Souls. Piperlime worked with dozens of Hollywood's hottest celebrities to autograph and donate their fabulous footwear for the auction, which can be accessed online at http://www.piperlime.com/. Bidding begins Thursday, May 3 and concludes on Monday, May 14. The auction features new and gently-worn shoes donated by close to 30 influential celebrities and athletes, including Lucy Liu, Jessica Simpson, Rosario Dawson, Mandy Moore, Alonzo Mourning, Wayne Gretzky, Teri Hatcher, Parker Posey and Sharon Stone.

"We're thrilled to help further the cause of Soles4Souls, an organization that has a remarkable, direct impact on millions of people throughout the world," said Catherine Beaudoin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Piperlime. "It's also gratifying to see the generosity displayed by our roster of celebrities, and we thank them for their donations."

The auction is being managed on eBay Giving Works by Auction Cause. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Soles4Souls.

"We are deeply touched by the kindness displayed by Piperlime, as well as that of the many celebrities who have agreed to participate in this auction," said Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO, Soles4Souls. "Piperlime's celebrity shoe auction will help us further our mission to impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes."

Thousands of Shoes Line Alabama State Capitol Steps

The state capitol is often the site of political rallies and demonstrations, but it's not often you see rows and rows of shoes out front.
There were literally thousands of pairs of shoes lining the steps Monday night -- 6,029 pairs to be exact. That's the same number of foster children in Alabama.
"It's personal for me. I'm a former foster and adoptive child myself," said Lee Marshall, founder of the Kids to Love organization, and advocacy group for foster children.
"We can't always show the faces of these children for confidentiality reasons, but we can let these shoes stand in the place of the foster children, to send a clear message to lawmakers," she explained.
Marshall says the goal is to increase state funding for foster families, which right now is just $8 per child per day.
"Foster children in our state get less than we spend on prisoners in a day," Marshall said.
So what's next for these 6,029 used shoes? Another organization, "Soles 4 Souls" has agreed to exchange them for three times as many new shoes, which will be distributed to Alabama's foster children.
Shelby County foster parent, Joette Vick says, "They will also receive a Bible. So we will be putting not only three new pairs of shoes, but a Bible in the hand of every foster child in the state."
Souls4Soles grew out of an effort to provide shoes to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Now, it too, is seeing the value in providing for Alabama's foster children.