Barefoot Week continued yesterday as Soles4Souls partnered with The Foundry in Birmingham, AL to give away more than 2,000 pairs of shoes and flip-flops.The Foundry began passing out the shoes, which were donated by shoe companies, at 10 a.m. Word of mouth and last-minute publicity on Tuesday and early Wednesday resulted in huge crowds when the distribution efforts began.
Micah Andrews, volunteer community outreach coordinator for the Foundry, said about 600 shoes were given out in the first hour of the event. About 2,200 pairs were given away during the entire four-hour event.
"The numbers have greatly exceeded what we anticipated," said Andrews.
Andrews said the shoes were available to anyone who needed help.
Even with an hour remaining, more and more people were seen walking into the Foundry for the giveaway and walking out with smiles on their faces.
The Foundry had 4,000 adult name brand shoes and 6,000 flip-flops delivered. Andrews said what shoes remain will be given away to the homeless in the Birmingham area in upcoming Friday events.
"It will really be an opportunity for us to reach out to a lot of homeless and needy families of Birmingham that couldn't be here today," Andrews said. "If you have a need, we want to meet it."
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