Shoe drive continues at Voorhees mall

The Mall at Voorhees Town Center in Philadelphia, continues to seek shoes for its shoe drive, which has collected more than 6,000 pairs for Soles4Souls.

In 2007, the mall invited the community to “Step into the Future” of something new and exciting with the mall’s transformation into the new Voorhees Town Center. When the redevelopment began, the mall felt it was appropriate to help those hurting worldwide and in need of footwear for their everyday steps.

As a result, the mall as collected over 6,000 pairs of new and lightly worn shoes for Soles4Souls. With such great success and response from the community, the mall has decided to extend the shoe drive.

The mall's goal is to collect 8,000 pairs by Feb. 29. Shoppers can drop off new or slightly worn shoes at customer service and donation boxes throughout the mall.

Barefoot Coach raises over 100,000 pairs of shoes

IUPUI coach Ron Hunter wore his usual garb to last Thursday's home game, a black shirt, vest and slacks, ready to coach the Jaguars against Oakland University in a Summit League game.

The only things missing were his shoes.

It was the most visible facet of his campaign to collect athletic shoes for children in need in Africa, distributed by Samaritan's Feet. Hunter's original goal was collecting 30,000 pairs. After news of his endeavor started to spread and shoes started coming in, he mentioned he might increase the goal to 40,000, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By tip-off, he had 110,000 pairs.

A crowd of more than 1,000 attended the game at IUPUI Gymnasium -- and some of the students showed up barefoot, in support of Hunter.

Soles4Souls donated 40,000 pairs to the cause. Wal-Mart gave 25,000. Nine West, Converse and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also chipped in.

"When we started this I thought 40,000 was going to be tough," Hunter told the Indianapolis Star. "When they told me before the game we already had 100,000, honestly, I almost broke down in tears."

Hunter, with a fresh pedicure, coached the Jaguars to a 82-69 victory. He's not noted for sitting down during games while he's wearing shoes, and that applied to his shoeless state as well.

"My feet hurt so bad," he told The Star after the game. "But imagine a child or a human going their whole lives without shoes."

Hunter, 43, has said he has been deeply affected by the mission he's joined, and his players have been touched as well. Some of them are intending to join Hunter this summer, when he flies to Africa to help distribute the shoes. Hunter has said he would like to go specifically to Cameroon, the homeland of Jaguars freshman guard Christian Siakam.

Kids in North Carolina collect shoes

A local elementary school in Wilmington, North Carolina is helping needy people around the world get back on their feet.


Fifth grader John-Paul Verardi along with North Topsail Elementary School organized a shoe drive.

Students and parents were asked to bring in new shoes to be distributed to people around the world including those who are less fortunate than us. Many of the shoes will go to those living in Darfur.


The school's principal says the effort has taught the students an important lesson.

"I think overall, the effort from our children, souls4souls is another way to teach our children the importance of helping others," said North Topsail Principal Georgia Fonbille.

North Topsail Elementary is also sponsoring a food drive that will go toward those less fortunate during the holidays.

Super Shoe Drive

In December, Super Shoe sponsored a shoe drive that helped benefit Souls4Souls. The shoe drive ran in all 40 Super Shoe stores in seven states and resulted in the donation of 7,650 pairs of shoes.

Customers donated new or gently worn shoes and received a coupon for $5 off their next purchase.

Souls4Souls partners with various charities and governments around the world to provide shoes to orphanages, refugees, homeless and those who have been impacted by disasters.

Super Shoe would like to thank everyone for a successful drive!

Vineyard collects 231 pairs of shoes

Pride Mountain Vineyard in Santa Rosa, California does more than produce award winning wines. The company has collected 231 pairs of shoes that are packed and ready to be shipped to Soles4Souls. The project was spearheaded by two Pride Mountain employees, Tim Bouchet and Katherine Rantz.

Over the holidays, co-workers, friends, and colleagues from neighboring wineries cleaned out their closets and brought shoes they were no longer wearing to Pride.

The shoes collected at Pride will be shipped to a warehouse in Las Vegas and then forwarded on to Sole4Soul's hub in Roanoke, Alabama. Once in the distribution center, the shoes will be inspected for suitability, sorted by gender and size, packaged into common Soles4Souls boxes, and shrink-wrapped together onto a shipping pallet. There the footwear will await distribution to the first qualified charity or regional partner who expresses a need.

Great job Pride Mountain Vineyard!

Shoe Display to Remember Sex Assault Victims in Minnesota

A display being designed in northern St. Louis County will include 2,121 pairs of shoes to represent victims of sexual assault.

Artist Jill Aubin said 707 pairs of shoes will be displayed on a cross, with the rest being incorporated around the base of the piece. Visitors will get a chance to write a prayer or wish to be attached to a tree in the exhibit, Aubin said.

The Sexual Assault Program of Northern St. Louis County served 707 victims of sexual abuse in 2006, and the rest of the shoes represent the estimated number of victims who never sought help, Aubin said.

The display will be shown April 1-15 at Messiah Lutheran Church in Mountain Iron before traveling to Crookston and then Brainerd for a statewide conference, Aubin said.

Aubin hopes the exhibit will travel throughout the state and beyond before it is dismantled and the shoes are sent to an orphanage and group that assists sexually abused women in Honduras. Larger shoes will be sent to a U.S.-based organization called Soles4Souls.

"It's an important message to put out there" about the prevalence of sexual assault, Aubin said.
Organizers have collected about 500 pairs of shoes so far and are encouraging members of the community to donate more.

Soles4Souls Donates $1 Million to Two Ten Footwear Foundation

Soles4Souls announced that they are donating $1 million to the Two Ten Footwear Foundation to establish the 'Soles4Souls Relief Fund.' The endowment will be earmarked for Two Ten's domestic relief program.

"Two Ten is a remarkable organization and we feel honored to support them in this way," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "In addition to their scholarship programs, Two Ten provides vital financial support to families in the footwear industry during times of crisis. This new endowment exemplifies our strong commitment to domestic relief programs and to giving back to the industry that has been so generous to us," Elsey said.

"We are so grateful to Soles4Souls for this generous gift -- a visible commitment to the footwear industry and those in need," said Peggy Kim Meill, President of Two Ten Footwear Foundation.

"This munificent gift goes into the very fabric of our mission as a relief organization. We have recently witnessed a significant increase in requests for assistance, and this donation from Soles4Souls could not be more vitally important to our foundation in being able to respond to the growing needs of our constituencies," she said.

According to Tim O'Donovan, Two Ten Board Chair, the donation is the second largest ever received by Two Ten for its relief program -- and the largest relief endowment established in the last decade.

"This is indeed a timely gift for Two Ten and the families in the footwear industry that we support," he said. "We are frequently called upon during traumatic events that require immediate financial assistance, and Soles4Souls is helping us make a major difference in the lives of people during the worst of times," he said.

Elsey added that the endowment underscores the strong commitment by Soles4Souls to partner with effective organizations inside the footwear industry.

"Two Ten is a lifeline to people within the shoe world. We can't think of a better way to reach out to hurting people inside our industry than coming alongside Two Ten. We sincerely hope that others will be inspired to act in a similar manner and support the excellent programs administered by Two Ten," he said.

About Two Ten Footwear Foundation

For nearly 70 years, the Two Ten Foundation has made a positive difference in the lives of people in the footwear industry. By providing counseling, financial assistance and community building events, Two Ten represents the footwear industry's commitment to philanthropy. Two Ten is located in Waltham, MA and serves clients throughout the United States. For more information please call us at 800-346-3210 or visit us on the web at http://www.twoten.org/.

Soles4Souls at the Arizona Rock n' Roll Marathon

As seen in the Arizona Republic:

Soles4Souls, a global organization that provides free footwear to people in need, will hold a shoe drive at the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon. Volunteers with information on the charity will be at the Health and Fitness Expo today and Saturday at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Representatives from Soles4Souls will staff drop boxes at the expo and at the finish line Sunday so runners and spectators can donate new or gently worn shoes or money for shipping the shoes to needy areas of the world.

See Kai Run Contributes to Soles4Souls

In its continuing commitment to share its shoes with children who need them most, See Kai Run, popular manufacturer of the perfect first shoe for new walkers, is once again teaming up with Soles4Souls for a year end contribution. Soles4Souls will be receiving over 1,500 pairs of See Kai Run shoes for distribution.

"We're happy to end the year on a high note and share our success by helping children around the world," said founder Cause Haun. "We're grateful to have the opportunity to partner with Soles4Souls, who can effectively bring our shoes to those who need them."

See Kai Run are hand-crafted from butter-soft leather padded collars and a breathable leather lining. Soles are constructed from extremely flexible leather, allowing new walkers lots of freedom to move while protecting their feet on all kinds of terrain.

Ravenscroft 3rd Graders in The News Observer

Ravenscroft third-graders Allison Arber and Ryan Gerard are leading a shoe drive to collect new and gently used shoes for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization whose mission is "to impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes."




The New Balance Store in Raleigh provided containers for the Ravenscroft students.
Ravenscroft's involvement with the project began when Ryan went into the New Balance store to purchase a new pair of shoes and was asked by a New Balance employee if he would like to donate his old ones to Soles4Souls, according to a press release from the school.


"This is a really great program that started in the wake of the 2004 tsunami," said Mark Allard, who owns the Raleigh and Durham New Balance stores with his wife, Kathy.



Mark Allard said that Soles4Souls delivered more than a million pairs to victims of Hurricane Katrina and 50,000 pairs to victims of the wildfires in California.


Ryan donated his own shows to the organization then realized that collecting shoes would make a good service project. He then asked Allison, who attends the same church as him, to get involved.



The students approached Ravenscroft's Lower School director about sponsoring the project and then created and distributed fliers promoting the shoe drive throughout the Lower School.


Anyone wishing to donate new or gently used shoes to Soles4Souls may bring them to the New Balance Store at 6204 Glenwood Ave in Raleigh.