Kellie Pickler appeared on the Today Show last Wednesday morning. The country star talked about her new single, her upcoming USO Tour and her involvement with the Nashville-based Soles4Souls shoe charity. Pickler also discussed her Fearless Tour 2009 with friend Taylor Swift (their concert was sold out last Thursday at New York’s Madison Square Garden).
Continuing her support of Soles4Souls, Kellie teamed with Ladies’ Home Journal magazine to collect new and gently worn shoes on Thursday before the show. The drop point for the shoes was located at the entrance to the Garden and was open from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm.
Nashville-based Soles4Souls collects and distributes free footwear (both new and 'gently worn') to people in need around the world. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 5 million pairs -- currently one pair every 13 seconds -- to people in 125 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, The Sudan and the United States.
In addition to donations from the footwear industry, Soles4Souls has received shoes and support from Scarlett Johansson, Zach Braff, Billy Joel, Jessica Simpson, Donald Faison, Stevie Nicks and many other celebrities, professional athletes and musicians.
The organization was created by former footwear executive Wayne Elsey, who stepped down from his position to run the charity on a daily basis. He was moved to action during the Asian Tsunami when he watched a news report that focused on a single shoe on the beach. He rallied the footwear industry to donate 250,000 pairs of shoes to the areas affected. When Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in September 2005, Wayne and his newly formed charity donated over 1 Million pairs of shoes to the victims in the Gulf Region. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.
