Soles4Souls Featured in National Geographic's "The Green Guide"

National Geographic Magazine has featured Soles4Souls in "The Green Guide" that highlights the humanitarian process, following a sample of donated shoes to the Soles4Souls warehouse and continuing to a final destination benefiting children in Mexico.

The Green Guide makes living in an environmentally-aware way easy, understandable, and practical. Intended for general consumers, the Green Guide (in print and on the web) shows people how to make small changes that add up to big benefits for their wallets, for their health, and, of course, for the health of the planet.

"Appearing in The Green Guide is an incredible honor," said Wayne Elsey of Soles4Souls. "It's humbling to see our work presented in such a prestigious publication and we are very grateful for the beautiful photo essay. The story clearly demonstrates the generosity of our partners and volunteers, and we are truly blessed to have fantastic supporters join with us to change the world one pair at a time," he said.

Elsey said that ongoing support is crucial to the success of Soles4Souls. "Simply cleaning out your closet and sending us your forgotten pairs can make a huge impact on someone's life. If you've ever wondered where your donated shoes end up, we invite you to get a current issue of The Green Guide and see for yourself," he said.

Soles4Souls in Honduras

Soles4Souls focused this week's distribution on the poorest of the poor. Honduras is well-known to be a third world country, but it's not without it's successful businesses, shiny SUV's, and fine restaurants. The capital city, Tegucigalpa, can show the gap between the rich and the poor quite plainly. About 20 city residents recieved athletic shoes from Soles4Souls featuring the New Balance, Asics, and Reebok brands. Most feet in the city have shoes, so Soles4Souls turned to those without.

The Isle of Tiger lies south of Tegucigalpa, within an inlet that protects it from the Pacific Ocean's rough waters. The team brought about 3,000 pair to the island, mostly in a Holey Soles unisex shoe. All the Holey Soles along with See Kai Run and Teva brands, were loaded into 15 foot boats and headed to the Island. The shoes coursed just a mile or two to the island's dock where they were reloaded onto 4 pick-up trucks for transport inside. Team members piled on top of shoes stacked 8 feet tall and held on for dear life along the rough roads.

"It feels like we're on National Geographic", commented team member Chris Baldwin.

A site near a school was chosen for distribution, and the community rallied together quickly upon the team's arrival. The trucks parked in a circle and three lines were formed for shoe distribution. Each person was sized by shoe sizers donated by the Woodrow Engineering Company in Sister Bay, WI and Justin Blair & Co. of Chicago, IL. Thanks to the sizers, each person was appropriately fitted.

"I think everyone here has been served", said team member Jerry Cotney, after several hours of intense distribution and accomplishing the day's objective.

Indeed, Holey Soles, Teva, and See Kai Run shoes could be seen in bright colors up and down the dusty roads. Team members said their farewells and traversed back across the island with the remaining shoes left over. They went back into storage in a warehouse within Tegucigalpa for later distribution.

Paul Wilson