The Erie Shoe Fly Drive

The Erie Shoe Fly Store announced recently that it will host a shoe drive to assist Soles4Souls. The Erie Shoe Fly Store is located at 7520 Peach Street in Erie, PA.


During the shoe drive, The Erie Shoe Fly Stores will be offering a $5 Savings Certificate for each pair of gently worn shoes donated and up to $15 towards the purchase of new footwear in their store. The shoe drive will begin on February 1, 2009 and will end on February 28, 2009.

"There are hurting people throughout the world and shoes provide protection, comfort and relief," said store manager Art Oligeri. "We all have several pairs in our closet that we can share with the less fortunate."

Kiddie Shoppe to Host Drive

The Kiddie Shoppe, the store that specializes in hard to find kid's shoes, has announced that it is hosting a shoe drive to benefit Soles4Souls.

During the shoe drive, The Kiddie Shoppe will offer shoppers a discount off a new pair of children's shoes to customers who bring in a gently-worn pair of shoes.


The shoe drive begins this Sunday, Feb. 1st and ends Sunday, Feb. 28th.

"For 76 years, The Kiddie Shoppe has been all about children in our area. Not just dressing them, but trying to make a better life for them," store owner Rick McKnight said. “This program will allow parents to talk with their children about helping other children all over the globe by the simple act of putting a pair of their used shoes in a barrel in Columbus Ga."

The Kiddie Shoppe is located on 1640 Rollins Way in Columbus GA. For more information call 706-327-0334.

Soles4Souls Partners with Liberty Tax Services

Soles4Souls announced the creation of a national partnership with Liberty Tax Services. Customers can use coupons to receive a $20 discount on their 2008 tax services and Liberty Tax will donate an additional $20 to Soles4Souls for each coupon used. In addition, at participating locations customers will be able to donate their "gently worn" pairs of shoes. Visit www.giveshoes.org to find a participating location near you. All shoes donated to Soles4Souls will go directly to helping needy people in the United States and around the world.

"Our Liberty Tax team is energized to help this worthy cause by creating a buzz in our offices and communities that will generate collections, donations and further national awareness for Soles4Souls," said John Hewitt, CEO and Founder of Liberty Tax Service.

Customers can send an email with the location of your service and contact information to libtax@giveshoes.org. A Soles4Souls representative will email the customer a printable coupon. In addition, select Liberty Tax offices will host shoe drives during the tax season. Patriotic-themed shoe collection boxes will be at these locations and customers are encouraged to clean out their closests and donate their shoes to help those in need.

Stan's Share-A-Pair for Soles4Souls

Was one of your New Year's resolutions to help those less fortunate this year but the tough economy is preventing you from doing so? Is your closet overflowing with shoes? If so and you live in the Greater Milwaukee, WI area, here is the perfect opportunity to help others while clearing out your clutter - our friends at Stan's Fit For Your Feet will be hosting their "Third Annual Share A Pair" shoe drive from Sunday, February 1 thru Saturday, February 28.

People can drop off their new or gently used shoes Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or Sundays from Noon to 5 p.m. at any of the "Share A Pair" collection bins at Stan's Greenfield store in the Layton Plaza at 7405 W. Layton Ave., Stan's Brookfield store, in V. Richard's Plaza at 17155 W. Bluemound Road or Stan's Glendale store across from Bay Shore Town Center at 505 W. Silver Spring Drive.

Admirals' fans attending the Sunday, February 15 afternoon game will also have the opportunity to "Share A Pair" at a special drop off location within the Bradley Center.

The annual shoe drive, hosted by Stan's Fit For Your Feet, has collected nearly 10,000 gently used pairs of shoes from Greater Milwaukee residents since its inception. All donated shoes are passed onto Soles4Souls. In addition, Stan's employees personally deliver and fit shoes for many of the area's homeless who frequent Milwaukee's Repairers of the Breach homeless shelter.

"We hope the residents of Greater Milwaukee will brave the cold and snow to once again embrace our shoe drive," said Jim Sajdak, owner of Stan's Fit For Your Feet. "The poor economy is impacting so many people and the need to reach out to others who are less fortunate has never been greater."

"This is a really easy way to help Soles4Souls and Repairers of the Breach who are both doing incredible things for the less fortunate people in our world," continued Sajdak, "We'd like to encourage everyone to bring in that pair of gently used shoes that doesn't fit quite right or that they no longer wear. Join the cause, and clean out the clutter of your closet."

As a way of saying thank you, people donating shoes at Stan's Fit For Your Feet will receive a $10 gift certificate to be used towards a footwear purchase during February at any Stan's Fit For Your Feet location.

For more information on the "Share A Pair" shoe drive, visit stansfootwear.com or call 262-432-4030. Stan's is locally owned and operated. It has been in business since 1950, and specializes in quality footwear from around the world. Its three stores are home to Wisconsin's largest collection of regular and hard to find shoe sizes.

Puma Partners with Soles4Souls at Sundance

Sportslifestyle brand PUMA made a special appearance at this year's Sundance Film Festival at the Film Lounge Media Center, which included the Getty Images/WireImage Portrait Studio. Celebrities and special guests had the opportunity to give back by signing PUMA footwear that will be auctioned off to benefit Soles4Souls.

"Park City is buzzing with excitement this time of year," said Jay Piccola, President of PUMA North America. "We are so thankful to be a part of it and to be able to give back to such a noteworthy cause."

In addition to the autographed shoes, PUMA will be donating footwear to the organization on behalf of each of the lounge's guests.

"We are very excited about working with PUMA at the Sundance Film Festival," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "This is a tremendous opportunity to enlist Hollywood stars to donate signed footwear that will benefit needy people here in the U.S. and around the world. We are extremely grateful that PUMA thought of Soles4Souls and the people who look to us for help," he said.

Visitors to the PUMA lounge will also had a chance to experience 60 Years of PUMA's history. The brand just celebrated its 60th anniversary and the lounge was decked out with iconic imagery, archival footwear, historic ads and other memorabilia from the last 6 decades. This initiative rounds out a string of events and programs thrown by the brand in celebration of its birthday.

This is the second year that PUMA has had a presence at Sundance. In 2008 PUMA hosted a special customization booth with their Mongolian Shoe BBQ program to benefit Clothes off our Backs. The PUMA lounge will be open January 16th through 21st at The Film Lounge Media Center in Park City, Utah.

See Kai Run's matching Charity Promo nets 9,700 Shoes

See Kai Run was able to donate more than 9,700 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls thanks to its November/December 2008 promotional event. The company matched each pair of shoes sold on its retail Web site during the two-month promo.

With this donation, See Kai Run will have shared a total of nearly 34,000 pairs of shoes to children who need them the most. “Share A Pair” is part of See Kai Run’s overall charitable giving campaign, which focuses on international, national, and local charities for children.

"Although 2009 will be a difficult year for many of us, we can be grateful that we are able to purchase a comfortable pair of shoes for our own children,” said founder Cause Haun. “We are so happy that through their purchases at seekairun.com, parents across North America were also able to provide a pair of shoes to a deserving child in another part of the world. As always, Soles4Souls makes it incredibly easy to help and we are grateful for that."

See Kai Run is a family-owned and operated business located outside of Seattle, Washington. The idea was born when owner Cause Haun was on a quest for the perfect first pair of shoes for her son, Kai. Unable to find shoes in fun styles that still promoted the healthy development of little feet, Cause and her husband created their own line of shoes that satisfied all of these needs. In just four years, See Kai Run has seen sales expand from a few boutiques, mostly in the Seattle area, to stores all around the country and worldwide.

Livin' the Music Event for Soles4Souls

Livin’ the Music is a non-profit organization that was founded on the idea that music can, and will, change the world. The purpose of Livin’ the Music is to use music to bring light, love & hope to those in need.

Last Night, Livin' the Music hosted a songwriters night to celebrate their one-year anniversary which benefited Soles4Souls.

Livin' the Music also helped Soles4Souls launch the 'Talkin' it to the Streets' campaign. Volunteers and Songwriters went to three different places in Nashville to deliver shoes to those in need, including the homeless and women's shelters. A different group of artists volunteered their singing and song writing 'talents' at each of the locations.

Livin' the Music also collected many shoes for Soles4Souls during the anniversary party after the shoe drop off. Everyone who brought a pair of gently worn shoes received a gift.

Adam Gregory Partners with Soles4Souls

Adam Gregory, a rising country star has teamed up with Soles4Souls to raise money and provide shoes for needy individuals around the world during his 'What It Takes' 2009 club tour.

The ten-week tour includes dates in 25 different cities, beginning Jan. 19 and running through March 31. Fans will be provided an opportunity to donate a new or gently worn pair of shoes or make a donation to the Soles4Souls organization.

“I’m really looking forward to these shows because I feel like we can make a difference in people’s lives,” Adam says. “It’s not just me performing for an audience, it’s all of us working together for a bigger cause. I can’t wait to get started.”

Adam, whose new single is “What It Takes,” will kick off the partnership on Jan. 8 by delivering shoes to local Nashville shelters as part of the “Takin’ It to the Streets” shoe drive. He will perform at the “Livin’ the Music” benefit concert for Soles4Souls at Nashville club 3rd & Lindsley Bar & Grill later that night.

Shoe Giveaway at the Wade Center

The Wade Center in Blufield, West Virginia handed out hundreds of shoes to their students over the Holiday break. The Wade Center exists to nurture Bluefield’s children and youth, many who come from impoverished homes, through spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual programs and mentoring relationships.

Vicki Mahood, the program and finance director of the Wade Center, displayed the shoes in the game room in a "store" type setting. Through out the week, students came down to the "shoe store" to try on shoes and take a pair home they liked.

"The Christmas shoes were a huge success," said Mahood. "The kids were so excited and soon the news was spreading to all the other kids on the hall that they were receiving new shoes. By the end of the week, the building was full of smiling faces all wearing their NEW SHOES!"

Mary Williams, who now lives and works in North Carolina, hosted a shoe drive for the kids of her home town of Bluefield, WV. Soles4Souls sent an additional two hundred new pairs of athletics to go along with the shoes Mary collected.

Soles4Souls Heading to Miami to Pick Up Thousands of "Lost Shoes" Spilled on Highway

Thousands of shoes were dumped on a Miami expressway Friday morning causing significant traffic delays.

Lt. Pat Santangelo says the Florida Highway Patrol received the report during rush hour. Workers were able to clear at least one lane after a short time by sweeping all the shoes to shoulder, but delays were expected to last until all the shoes could be removed.

Santangelo says he's not sure where the shoes came from. There were no signs of a crash, and no one stopped to claim them. He says the shoes appear to be used, and most were tied together in pairs. He says he's looking for a charity to take the shoes, rather than sending them to the dump.

Soles4Souls contacted the Florida Highway Patrol and offered to immediately collect the shoes on behalf of needy people it supports.

"These shoes are abandoned property and we're happy that Soles4Souls can make good use out them," said Santengelo.

Soles4Souls Founder and CEO, Wayne Elsey, said the sight of thousands of abandoned shoes was a stark reminder of how many shoes are tossed into American landfills. "Too many perfectly good shoes are thrown away each year, and it's a shame," he said. "Soles4Souls is dedicated to keeping usable footwear out of our landfills and putting them on the feet of needy people around the world," he said.

Soles4Souls has a team on the way to Miami to pick up the shoes, and will distribute them to needy people in Haiti. The island nation is still recovering after a devastating hurricane season, and the shoe charity has already distributed 100,000 pairs of shoes to Haitians in the past four months. Soles4Souls is working with several other charities to send relief shipments of food, clothing, shoes and medicine before the end of January.

String of Shoes aims at Guinness record

While most people were out tipping glasses to the New Year Wednesday, volunteers were tying shoelaces to break a Guinness World Record at Opry Mills in Nashville, TN.

The volunteers were trying to collect shoes for Soles4Souls to help those in need and break the record for the longest chain of shoes at the same time.

The current record holder is the National Geographic Kids Magazine with 10,512 shoes measuring 8,700 feet. That chain of shoes was tied up in July.

It is estimated that there will be 26,000 shoes to span the mall twice, which is about a mile inside. This is in addition to a tower or massive barrel of shoes holding about 30,000 pair near the mall's second entrance.

"It's overwhelming that something like this is going to impact so many people," said Killian Deats, 18.

Deats, who is striving for Eagle Scout status, got involved in collecting the shoes through his father who works with Soles4Souls.

Dragging mostly tennis shoes tied lace-to-lace out of four-foot tall boxes, Deats and several friends in one group lined the shoes up on the floor throughout the mall. Most of the stores were closed New Year's Eve as the crew struggled to line the shoes up the length of the mall.

Curious visitors couldn't resist watching the spectacle of footwear.

In town for the Music City Bowl, Linda Georganas, 62, of Hamilton, Va., said she thought the shoe charity's record-breaking event was a great idea. Dennis and Betty Brown of Sheffield, Ala., were impressed at how nice the shoes were.

"I think it's fantastic," Dennis Brown said. "I like what they are doing with them afterwards."