Titan Hands Out Hundreds Of Free Pairs Of Shoes

Soles4Souls along with Shoe Carnival donated more than a thousand pair of clogs to the Nashville Rescue Mission.

Tennessee Titan All-Pro Safety Chris Hope went to the mission to help pass out free clogs to those less fortunate.

Hope has been the National Spokesman for Soles4Souls for three years, and he said giving away free shoes gave him a sense of purpose far past football.

"I'm here in Nashville, but I'm blessing people across the country by passing our shoes, but Soles4Souls has been doing it for many years and they've blessed many people and I'm glad to be a part of it," said Hope.

The safety donates $100 per tackle to Soles4Souls, the Nashville charity that gives away shoes to those in need. Hope has donated almost $30,000 to the organization himself.

"Anytime I'm donating money, that means I'm playing good so it's a blessing," said Hope.
A blessing to people like 29-year-old Adam Perkins, who's overcoming a drug addiction and has high praise for the Titan that gives his time to Soles4Souls.

"I'd like to say to Chris - thank you very much and God Bless you brother," said Perkins.

Dash Arrives in Nashville

Dashiel Alsup, has reached Nashville in his barefoot quest to walk coast-to-coast to gain support for Soles4Souls. Wayne Elsey, founder of Soles4Souls, joined the 19 year-old and walked barefoot to the Nashville Rescue Mission to donate shoes to homeless men.

"Walking barefoot from Washington to Tennessee is already an incredible achievement, and we're honored that he's been undertaking this barefoot journey on our behalf," said Wayne Elsey.

It has been 2,840 miles since Dash turned his back on a cold and lonely beach in Washington state and started walking across America. Today, he reached Nashville where Soles4Souls staff members, volunteers and members of the media finally had their chance to meet the Colorado native who took it upon himself to raise awareness and funds for Soles4Souls.

Dash and Elsey were accompanied by about 30 students from a local school, as well as other volunteers. They began at The Parthenon, walked down Broadway toward 8th Avenue and turned south until they arrived at the Nashville Rescue Mission (about 2 1/2 miles). Many of the volunteers and students also walked barefoot in support of Dash and Soles4Souls. About 500 pairs of shoes were distributed at the Rescue Mission.

After visiting Nashville for a few days, Alsup plans on continuing toward his final goal in Jacksonville, Florida, where he will have walked over 3,000 miles for Soles4Souls.

"I'm really excited to be in Nashville and spend some time with the team at Soles4Souls," he said. "I'm just happy that I can make a difference in people's lives and am looking forward to the final leg of this trip," he said.

Alsup keeps a blog of his journey at http//asinglepebble.blogspot.com.

Tennessee Titan helps out Soles4Souls

NFL Safety Chris Hope stopped by the Nashville Rescue Mission in between a busy day of team workouts on Wednesday to participate in the Soles4Souls Shoe Donation, an event benefiting local persons in need by providing them with new pairs of shoes. A strong supporter of the organization, Hope pledged $100 for every tackle he made in 2007 to Souls4Souls, accumulating in a $6,000 donation. Hope will again pledge $100 for every tackle he makes in 2008.

Held in the usual game lounge for visitors of the Mission, Soles4Souls provided 1,000 pairs of new shoes to residents of the Nashville community. The event marked the third shoe distribution within the past 10 months in the charity’s ongoing commitment to those in need of one of our most overlooked necessities — shoes. Hope helped recipients try on shoes, find the right style and locate the right sizes, all the while providing words of encouragement.

Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls Wayne Elsey commented on how much it meant to the participants to have Hope lending his time to the event.

“Having Chris involved lets them (today's recipients) know that they are important to him. To give them a pair of shoes, something that we take for granted everyday, will help them out in the future and help put a smile on their face,” said Elsey.

Inspired by the large turnout, Hope talked about what it meant to him personally to be involved with the shoe drive and why Soles4Souls is one of his favorite organizations.

“Working with Soles4Souls gives me the chance to give my time, meet people in need, and touch them in a different way. When you give someone a pair of shoes, you can see their faces light up, almost like they're a kid again,” said Hope.

“I consider it a real blessing to be involved in something like this, and I’m thankful I was able to participate.”

The Titans hosted a Shoe Drive to benefit Soles4Souls this past season versus the Houston Texans on Sunday, Dec. 2 at LP Field. Titans fans helped donate approximately 7,400 shoes during the drive to benefit events and non-profit organizations such as the Nashville Rescue Mission.

NFL players help Soles4Souls donate 1,000 pairs of shoes to rescue mission

Nashville based charity Soles4Souls Inc., the global organization dedicated to providing free footwear to people in need all over the world, donated over 1,000 pairs of shoes today to the Nashville Rescue Mission.

Soles4Souls staff, along with volunteers from Bellevue Community Church, as well as NFL Safety, Chris Hope, NFL Running Back, Chris Brown, and Vice Mayor Howard Gentry, Chair of the Homeless Commission, were on hand to fit guests of the mission with their new pairs of shoes.