Soles4Souls Inc., the charity dedicated to providing free shoes to people in need, announced today that it is currently giving away one pair of shoes every seven seconds. The non-profit organization provides new, gently worn and refurbished shoes to people in need around the world.
"We keep track of this figure so we can show our supporters how their donations are changing lives every day," said Wayne Elsey, the Founder and CEO of the charity. "The incredible response we've received this year has helped us draw closer to our ultimate goal of giving away a pair of shoes every second," he said.
Soles4Souls first began to keep track of how many shoes it was donating in July 2007, when staff members calculated they were giving away a pair every 28 seconds. "Since then, our charity has gained 45 employees, thousands of corporate sponsorships and millions of individual supporters," said Elsey. "This success is due to the valuable partnerships we're fortunate to have, from the largest footwear companies to the smallest neighborhood school, and the people who make up each organization," he said.
According to Elsey, Soles4Souls will continue to focus on its core mission, which is to track down excess inventory in American warehouses, stockrooms and closets in order to give them to people in desperate situations. "They could be people escaping a flood, a fire or a hurricane with nothing but the clothes on their backs," said Elsey. "It could be one of the young people we met who are forced to live in a flimsy tent city in Haiti, or it could be a foster child living in Oakland. And there are plenty of people who are struggling because of terrible economic situations," he said.
Elsey noted that more than 50% of Soles4Souls shoe distributions occur in the United States, whether it's through a local homeless shelter, an agency dedicated to helping foster children, a church that reaches out to its community members, or a school that quietly identifies a child in need. "We believe you don't have to look very far to see someone in need and we balance our distributions to reflect this core belief," he said.
Do you have a news worthy story that you would like to see posted at YourCause.com? Write to us at info@yourcause.com.
Related Charities:
|
