Soles 4 Souls Shoe Drive

Our group organized a five week shoe drive for the organization Soles 4 Souls. This organization collects new and used shoes to send to people in developing countries who don't have any. Not only does this help the health and lives of people, but it also impacts the environment. Rather than being thrown into a landfill where the toxic glue holding them together can leach into the environment, shoes are re-used. A magazine introduced us to the organization. It was surprising to learn that so many people in our world don't own shoes, while Americans threw away 300 million pairs last year (www.soles4souls.org). We decided to host a shoe drive. Our plan was to contact all of the shoes stores in our area. This proved to be an interesting experience, and we learned how important it is to follow-up with businesses and remain patient. After many calls, we were able to get two local stores on board, as well as family and friends. Once we had our participating stores, we alerted Soles 4 Souls and they sent us collection boxes and brochures. After the collection boxes were set up, they began to fill up very fast. Every week there were garbage bags full of shoes that needed to be picked up. It was so exciting to raise awareness about the organization and see the success of our project! Overall, we collected close to 250 pairs of shoes. It worked out one of of our members was able to drop the shoes off at a Soles 4 Souls warehouse, which saved the need for shipping money. It was inspiring to know that those shoes were going to help people rather than end up in a landfilll!