Donate your lightly used shoes

BOSTON, Mass. – Wheelock athletics is currently sponsoring a shoe drive in support of the Soles 4 Souls organization, a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies as well as from individuals to donate to those who have been affected by disaster. The Wildcats are collecting lightly used shoes that will be donated to Project Haiti in an effort to provide shoes for the survivors of the Haitian earthquake.

“Millions of shoes just sit idly in our closets when there are millions of people around the world who don’t have shoes,” said Wheelock head women’s basketball coach Brooke Freeburg, who is also a manager at City Sports in Boston. City Sports is currently supporting Project Haiti, and shoe donations will be accepted until the end of February.

A collection box has been placed in the Wheelock athletic department, and donations will also be accepted at all home athletic events. Soles4Souls accepts all types of shoes: athletic, running, dress, sandals, pumps, heels, work boots, cleats, dance, flip flops, and even half-pairs, just as long as they are new or gently worn.

As an organization, Soles4Souls facilitates the donation and distribution of shoes, which are used to aid those in need worldwide. Soles4Souls distributes these shoes free of charge, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States. Soles4Souls has been featured in Runner's World, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic’s Green Guide, and The New York Times. The organization has also appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC, CNN and thousands of regional news outlets across North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages.
The idea behind shoes as gifts is nothing new to the Soles4Souls team, as they coordinated relief efforts for the Asian Tsunami and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, netting over 1 million pairs donated for these disasters. The team originally operated as www.katrinashoes.org, with several churches partnering in the collection and distribution of footwear.