PUMA and Soles4Souls Receive Footwear Donation from Aaron Eckhart

[click here to read more about this program]

Soles4Souls and PUMA are currently working together to collect shoes for people in need around the world. All PUMA stores are offering 30% off to customers who bring in a pair of their own gently worn shoes to donate. Customers will have until July 12th to take advantage of the generous discount.

As part of the kickoff for this fantastic event, PUMA and Soles4Souls set up two oversized donation boxes in New York City for people to come by and toss in their shoes and walk away with a pair of Soles4Souls flip-flops as a thank you.

Several celebrities, including movie star Aaron Eckhart, made a donation of his very own kicks. Aaron is the star of such movies as "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "Thank You For Smoking."

We are very grateful that he took the time out to give us his shoes -- even though the person who receives these New Balance shoes will never know that a famous movie star once owned them, we know they will be thrilled to have a good pair of athletic shoes....

PUMA Partners with Soles4Souls

Sportslifestyle brand PUMA has once again teamed up with Soles4Souls to encourage people across America to turn in their gently worn shoes and donate them.

From June 15th to July 12th, PUMA will be collecting slightly worn shoes at every one of their stores across the country. In return, PUMA will give the generous donors 30% off a new pair of kicks in hopes of rallying people to give back to those in need! During this time period, consumers will also be able to make a monetary donation to the cause at all PUMA store locations.

In addition to collecting shoes in-store, PUMA and Soles4Souls are encouraging people to take action and literally give the shoes off of their feet. At two exclusive locations this summer, a larger-than-life PUMA Red drop box will be on-hand ready for footwear donations.

On June 15th in New York City's Union Square, and on June 23rd on the Santa Monica Pier, donors can turn in their shoes on the spot by tossing them in a giant 10 foot tall donation box. Soles4Souls flip flops and a coupon for 30% off a new pair at the PUMA store will be given to participants. The oversized drop boxes will only be on-hand for one day in each city from 11 am to 7 pm.

This is the second initiative that PUMA and Soles4Souls have worked together. Earlier this year, the sportlifestyle brand collaborated with the non-profit organization on a special program at the Sundance Film Festival where Soles4Souls auctioned a giant PUMA Clyde sneaker which PUMA had signed by attending celebrities and special guests.

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.