Soles4Souls | A Supplement to Footwear Plus | 2009 • October/November

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SOULS

5 YEARS: CHANGING THE WORLD ONE PAIR AT A TIME DREAM TEAM: THE SOULS BEHIND THE SOLES CAUSE CELEB: HOLLYWOOD STEPS UP FOR CHARITY

SUPPLEMENT TO FOOTWEAR PLUS

CONGRATULATIONS TO SOLES4SOULS ON 5 YEARS OF CHANGING LIVES WITH THE GIFT OF SHOES!

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Congratulates Soles4Souls on 5 years of Changing the

© 2009 Earth, Inc.

World ... One Pair at a Time

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4 Founder’s Letter Wayne Elsey wants everyone to ‘get off the couch’ and help Soles4Souls give shoes to people in need.

6 By the Numbers Stats and facts illustrate the necessity of Soles4Souls’ work.

8 Star Power Big-name celebrities give props to the charity and its efforts.

10 Scene & Heard From major shoe stores to local churches, learn how groups across the country are getting behind Soles4Souls’cause.

16 Q&A: Wayne Elsey The organization’s founder and CEO shares the story of Soles4Souls’ inception and how people worldwide have been affected by the gift of shoes.

22 Within Reach Outreach director Paul Wilson explains how Soles4Souls coordinates the intake and distribution of footwear to outfit those who need it most.

24 Helping Hands Meet the Soles4Souls team, whose creative ideas and hard work help spread the charitable message and make a true difference around the globe.

28 If the Shoe Fits Shoe Mill’s Soles4Souls partnership makes for a moving experience for both staff and locals in need.

30 The Big Give Schuler Shoes gets the community on board with a five-day shoe-donating extravaganza.

34 Net Results See how donations to Soles4Souls have impacted lives worldwide.

EDITORIAL Greg Dutter Editorial Director Leslie Shiers Managing Editor Melissa Knific Features Editor Angela Velasquez Editorial Assistant

ADVERTISING Caroline Diaco Publisher Jennifer Craig Advertising Director Rita O’Brien Account Executive Laurie Guptill Production Manager

CONTACT INFO Sales/Editorial Offices Footwear Plus 8 West 38th Street, Suite 201 New York, NY 10018 Tel: (646) 278-1550 Fax: (646) 278-1553

CREATIVE Nancy Campbell Creative Director Trevett McCandliss Art Director Sanford Kearns Webmaster

ADMINISTRATION Theodore Hoffman Projects Director Melanie Prescott Circulation Manager Alex Marinacci Operations Manager

CIRCULATION Symphony Publishing 21 Highland Circle Needham, MA 02494 Tel: (800) 964-5150 Fax: (781) 453-9389

CORPORATE Symphony Publishing Corporate HQ 26202 Detroit Rd, #300 Westlake, OH 44145 Tel: (440) 871-1300 Xen Zapis Chairman Lee Zapis President Rich Bongorno Chief Financial Officer Sid Davis Group Publisher

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Wayne Elsey

Founder and CEO

Baydoun & Knight, PLLC Attorneys at Law Suite 2650, Financial Center 424 Church Street Nashville, Tennessee 37219

FIVE YEARS AGO, my life was quite different than it is today. As an executive for a national footwear company, I was constantly being pulled apart by the pressures of our bottom line until that late December morning when I saw the news of the terrible tsunami in Indonesia on TV. One image in particular struck a nerve—a small child’s shoe lying on a devastated beach. It prompted me to get off my couch and start calling industry friends seeking donations of shoes for the survivors. The response was astounding—we collected 250,000 pairs of new shoes as well as the funds to ship them overseas.

That marked the beginning of what would become Soles4Souls just a few months later. It was also the day I discovered that my true calling lay in humanitarian work rather than on the sales floor. It took a natural disaster to literally move me off the couch to start working for something other than the bottom line. I am now excited to go to work each day and make a simple yet important difference in the lives of people all over the world. I have chosen to work alongside fellow volunteers dedicated to a pure concept: to collect new and gently worn footwear wherever we can and channel these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, creed, religious background, age or life experience.

We have donated shoes to so many groups of people— from individuals in African refugee camps, to the homeless

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living in American shelters, to barefoot sherpas in Nepal, to foster kids in California, to a 5-year-old in Honduras who had been wearing mismatched flip-flops while sifting through garbage dumps looking for food, to a 50-year-old waste collector in Baltimore who desperately needed a new pair of boots for his job. These people are now my customers—except the transaction is free of charge.

As we mark the five-year milestone of Soles4Souls, we are incredibly grateful for everyone who has helped turn our mission into a reality. Your hard work, sacrifice and willingness to become partners has made the gift of shoes a reality for millions of people in need around the world. Yet, even as we mark this anniversary, we are careful not to celebrate it as a victory. An estimated 300 million children around the world still don’t own a pair of shoes, and millions more people of all ages are infected with hookworm and other lifethreatening ailments, which are easily preventable with a simple pair of shoes. We are constantly met with more challenges from all corners of the world, which has only become more widespread amid the Great Recession.

We know that it’s hard work to organize a shoe drive and to collect gently worn shoes on our behalf. We understand that it’s not easy to donate thousands of brand-new shoes from a company’s valuable stock. We can’t say it enough: Thank you for supporting Soles4Souls.

We will not rest on our laurels. Soles4Souls will continue to answer the need and respond with the resources at its disposal. Our challenge is inspire others to “get off the couch” and take responsibility for what we can do for someone else in need.

For those of you who are already on board, we are proud to have you as a partner in our mission to change the world, one pair at a time. If you haven’t yet plugged in, I encourage you to contact us. We’ll happily help you and your community get involved.

Wayne Elsey, Founder & CEO, Soles4Souls

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« Clockwise from top left: Scarlett Johansson, Donald Faison, Kellie Pickler, Randy Jackson, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Grant.

“I’m proud to support Soles4Souls and applaud the charity for already giving away more than 5 million pairs of shoes. Their outreach is fantastic, and the number of people who have responded to help out others in need is truly inspiring.

Congratulations to Soles4Souls on five great years.”

—SCARLETT JOHANSSON, ACTOR AND MUSICIAN

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“Soles4Souls is an amazing charity.

I urge everyone to get involved so they will see how they, personally, can change lives with the gift of shoes.”

“It is easy to support charities like Soles4Souls that help children of all cultures. Monies raised pay for expensive shipping, and even a small donation of $5 for new shoes will help those children who are battling life’s problems and need a positive step up.”

—AMY GRANT, MUSICIAN

—DONALD FAISON, ACTOR

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“I am thrilled to support Soles4Souls in order to help spread their mission of ‘Changing the World, One Pair at a Time.’ The charity’s commitment is inspiring, and I hope that thousands of people join me in support of the fantastic work it’s doing across America.”

“I am honored to support Soles4Souls and the shoe industry for its wonderful work in distributing over 5 million pairs of shoes in a few short years. They ‘make it work!’”

—TIM GUNN, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER OF LIZ CLAIBORNE AND “PROJECT RUNWAY” MENTOR

—KELLIE PICKLER, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER

“Shoes are such a basic need that they are often overlooked. Soles4Souls puts shoes on the feet of many in need so they can take that first step toward a brighter future.”

—ELIZABETH BANKS, ACTOR

“It’s an honor to donate shoes to help Soles4Souls as they do incredible things for the less fortunate people in this world. I encourage everyone to lend support.”

“I was amazed when I heard Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unworn shoes in their closets. I am proud to support Soles4Souls as it uses each and every one of these pairs to make a tangible difference in someone’s life.”

—LANCE BASS, MUSICIAN

“I applaud Soles4Souls for being so dedicated to helping provide shoes to everyone they encounter who needs them.

We need more organizations like this one, which understand the true nature of giving while expecting nothing in return. They are making a difference in the world, one pair of shoes at a time!”

—ANTAWN JAMISON, TWO-TIME NBA ALL-STAR FOR THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS

—JESSICA SIMPSON, ACTOR AND MUSICIAN

“There are many people around the world who have never owned a pair of shoes, and Soles4Souls is working very hard to put a pair of brandnew shoes on their feet.

I encourage everyone to donate as many shoes as possible.”

—RANDY JACKSON, ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ JUDGE

« Clockwise from top left: Jessica Simpson,

Tim Gunn, Lance Bass and Antawn Jamison.

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SCENE & HEARD

YOU’VE SEEN THE headlines—thousands of people have died, entire villages have been leveled, and thousands more are now homeless as a result of the recent Indonesia earthquake and American Samoa tsunami disasters. Soles4Souls, the world’s largest provider of free shoes to people in need, is joining an international relief effort by donating 50,000 pairs and is soliciting contributions of just $2.50 each to fund the shipping and distribution to victims.

For every $2.50 donation, Soles4Souls can provide a pair of shoes for one of the survivors, but individuals are encouraged to donate any amount they wish—a $5 contribution makes a difference in two lives and $500 can impact an entire village. People can also make a donation (minimum $10) in honor or in memory of a loved one. A gift announcement card will be sent to the individual, informing them that a donation in their name has been made. In addition, the donor will receive a receipt for tax purposes. To donate by using a credit or debit card account, please log onto www.soles4souls.org/donate/online.html.

AS THE ATLANTA area recovers from the devastating floods of late September, a Foot Solutions franchise in the nearby town of Buckhead donated $35,000 worth of shoes on behalf of Soles4Souls to aid victims who lost their homes.

Foot Solutions delivered more than 220 pairs of new shoes and nearly 100 pairs of gently used shoes. The donation took place at the First Baptist Church Chattahoochee. Aadu Allpere, who co-owns the local Foot Solutions store with his wife, Kristie, learned of the devastation from fellow Buckhead Rotarian Dr. Jim Haskell, who ministers to families hit hard by the floods. “My husband, son and I delivered two truckloads of shoes for an estimated 50 families in need,” Kristie Allpere reports.

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THIS FALL, SOLES4SOULS is reaching further out to faith-based organizations to raise awareness and solicit footwear donations with its Thanks4Giving, a unique program that coincides with the holiday season when many less fortunate are unable to enjoy the warmth and safety of their homes, families and friends. Soles4Souls is inviting congregations to help the charity harvest 250,000 pairs of shoes for those in need.

As Soles4Souls founder and CEO Wayne Elsey notes, Americans have an estimated 1.5 billion pairs of shoes sitting in their closets. The charity is encouraging people to donate extra pairs to people who will treasure them for years to come. “We are trying to get 25,000 new houses of worship signed up to reach our donation goal,” Elsey says, noting the Thanks4Giving program is a turnkey event. “We provide all the necessary service elements, materials and guidelines, and the congregation takes the collection drive from there.”

Those promotional materials include a collection box, brochures and inspirational scripture as well as videos of other faith-based events and of the charity delivering shoes to people in need around the world for inspiration. Elsey recommends congregations set a goal number of pairs to be collected and suggests having members make their donations at a communal spot for a more meaningful impact. “People who have left their place of worship barefoot after giving a donation are truly moved by that experience,” Elsey says. “Often people are crying when they are dropping off their shoes.” Elsey adds, “These are everyday people who didn’t realize what it is like to have to go barefoot.”

For more information or to sign up your congregation for Thanks4Giving, call (866) 521-7463 or email sunday@giveshoes.org. soles4souls

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Soles4Souls

Congratulations on 5 years of changing the world one pair at a time.

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ACCORDING TO SOLES4SOULS research, an estimated 300 million pairs of shoes wind up in America’s landfills annually. This not only has enormous environmental ramifications, but many of those disregarded pairs could be worn by those who don’t even own a single pair.

Turning that would-be trash into a donation is the impetus behind Soles4Souls’ partnership with Georgia Recycling Coalition during the months of October and November, an effort that has resulted in the establishment of statewide drop-off points at its recycling centers for shoes.

Soles4Souls founder and CEO Wayne Elsey says the Georgia shoe drive is a test run that will be rolled out nationally next April, to coincide with Earth Day celebrations. He has high hopes that the recycling centers could be a major windfall for shoe donations. “Our goal is that a nationwide recycling campaign could generate between 5 and 10 million pairs of donations, just in the month of April,” he says, noting the charity has collected nearly 6 million in its first five years. “We want Americans to clean out their closets as well as generate awareness to not just toss shoes into landfills.” Elsey adds that any donated shoes that are not wearable will be broken down for use for in various projects.

AS PART OF the launch of the Nine West Vintage America collection, Nine West and Soles4Souls stepped up their partnership to collect gently worn footwear for individuals in need.

During two weeks this past September, customers who donated a pair of lightly used shoes at any of the 192 Nine West retail stores nationwide received 15-percent off any purchase of $75 or more.

“We were pleased to partner with Nine West and encourage all of our other partners to step up and get behind our call to action,” says Soles4Souls’ Wayne Elsey. “Donating gently worn shoes is one of the most simple yet profound gifts you can make, and it will greatly improve someone’s life in the most difficult of times.”

“We were thrilled to bring this program to Nine West consumers nationwide and enabled them to join in the mission of recycling shoes and give back to the community,” says Jay Friedman, CEO of Jones Retail Corporation, parent company of Nine West. “Philanthropy has always been part of our company’s DNA, and with the help of our consumers, we anticipate donating a lot of shoes to those in need.”

Soles4Souls, in partnership with the Mobile Giving Foundation and Distributive Networks, is now accepting donations via text messages. More than 270 million Americans have mobile devices, and 99 percent of those support text messaging, meaning making a donation is as easy as typing the word “shoes” and pressing send.

Mobile Giving complements the simplicity of Soles4Souls’ cause and allows supporters to give easily in an instant without providing credit card information, engaging in a lengthy phone call or having to visit a website. Offering the freedom to solicit donations through live events, media appearances, print, television, radio and the Internet, Mobile Giving creates another platform of communication by allowing the charity to begin donor dialogue with their supporters.

“The innovation of Mobile Giving provides a new, easy channel for our supporters,” says Soles4Souls’ Wayne Elsey. “It eliminates the ‘why?’ and creates a ‘why not?’ giving scenario.”

The plan works with all major cell phone providers and allows users to text a key word to a five-digit phone number, sending a $5 donation to Soles4Souls through the carrier. The $5 donation will appear on the subscriber’s next monthly bill.

Students of the Trinity Lutheran Church’s vacation bible school, for children ages 3 through 13, in Berrien Springs, MI, selected Soles4Souls as the charity to benefit from its annual coin drive. A blue and a pink bucket were set up in each class, and the boys and girls competed against each other to try and meet their collective goal of $500.

At the end of the summer session, the classmates far exceeded their fundraising goal, having collected $1,072.82, which equates to 357 pairs of Soles4Souls flipflops to people in need. Aside from collecting enough coins to impact that many people, the children designed construction paper flip-flops for the Soles4Souls office, providing a powerful visual on just how many people would benefit from the donation. Afterwards, members of the Soles4Souls team took a paper flip-flop to keep at their desks to remind them that even nickels, dimes and quarters can help them reach their mission of “Changing the World, One Pair at a Time.”

W.L. GORE & ASSOCIATES, the makers of Gore-Tex, a waterproof breathable footwear lining, is partnering with Soles4Souls to launch the “How Far Can One Pair Go?” national shoe drive and footwear promotion. The campaign has encouraged shoppers to donate shoes or funds to the Nashville, TN-based charity at select retail partners or online at www.howfarcanonepairgo.com from Sept. 1 through the end of this year. Gore will make a monetary donation to Soles4Souls for each pair of new casual shoes with its technology purchased through the website during the campaign with a goal of raising $10,000. In addition, visitors can donate money to Soles4Souls and enter to win a spot on a distribution trip to hand out shoes to people in need and see firsthand how far one pair of shoes can go.

“The campaign encourages people to donate and help a person in need,” says Brian Gallagher, marketing footwear

strategist for W.L. Gore & Associates. “The question of ‘how far can one pair go?’ also underscores the versatility and comfort of casual shoes with Gore-Tex lining.”

Coinciding with the launch of the shoe drive, footwear manufacturers Ara, Clarks, Ecco, MBT, Mephisto, Merrell, New Balance, Stuart Weitzman and Timberland are introducing new casual shoe styles that feature the Gore-Tex fabric technology.

Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, says the Gore-Tex promotion helps the charity continue its mission to enhance the lives of children and families worldwide through cooperative efforts of distributing critically needed footwear. “Seeing is believing, and this is an opportunity to show what the world is really like for far too many people,” Elsey says, noting a dsitribution trip is an experience one will never forget. “Those who have gone on such trips are truly moved by the experience and often immediately ask what more they can do to help. They become ambassadors for our mission.” Elsey adds that such trips are not always in far-off countries. “Such outreach efforts could just as readily be done in Boston, the Bronx, NY, and Los Angeles,” he says.

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Wayne Elsey, CEO of Soles4Souls, on why the simple mission to get and give shoes is often a matter of life and death. By Greg Dutter WAYNE ELSEY LOVES his job but hates that it exists. As founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, the Nashville, TN-based charity whose mission is to collect gently worn and new shoes for distribution to people around the world, Elsey wishes such a need never existed. Unfortunately, that is not the case—not by a long shot, as the charity estimates 300 million children worldwide do not own a single pair of 16

shoes and many millions more adults face the same situation. Some estimates place the total shoeless figure at one quarter of the world’s population.

That’s a simply staggering number to comprehend, especially for those of us who live in a nation where footwear is often taken for granted and closets runneth over with pairs—many of which are in perfectly good condition but are no longer worn. And this lack of shoes is by no means a lifestyle choice or fashion faux pas—the inconvenient truth is that thousands of people are dying of footentered parasites and infections as a result of not owning any shoes. And that’s why the 44-year-old Elsey, a long-time footwear industry executive, and his committed Soles4Souls team are trying to stamp out the need wherever they can through the gift of shoes.

Currently, Soles4Souls is distributing a pair of shoes every nine seconds, and while that may sound like a lot, doing the math shows it’s not nearly enough. Even the organization’s stated goal—to distribute a pair every single second—amounts to only 32 million pairs a year. “That’s still a huge gap considering the need of those 300 million children alone,” Elsey notes. But Elsey, ever the undaunted optimist, believes Soles4Souls can increase its donations tenfold in one fell swoop. “Americans throw away an estimated 300 million pairs of shoes a year,” he says. “So if we got every American to donate at least one pair, we could solve the world’s issue for kids right there.”

Of course, such goals are easier said than done. And that’s why Elsey and the Soles4Souls team operate like a locomotive, powering ahead in an endless search for new procurement and awareness programs. The initial idea for the organization came in response to the Asian tsunami disaster in late 2004, but the staff’s ideas for ways to collect and give shoes have only picked up steam with every successful effort. It’s a chain reaction, Elsey explains, noting that if the group sees one idea catching fire, it sets off a fresh stream of creativity. Elsey says there really are no bad ideas if the result delivers on the charity’s mission, which is reflected in its tagline, “Changing the World, One Pair at a Time.”

And this is why he believes that despite the widespread need, which can be overwhelming at times, every shoe donation counts.

Each pair is a little victory that steadily adds soles4souls

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What are you reading? I just finished “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis. It was the best book I have ever read. I made my entire team read it.

something reputable by doing up to a much greater reward. good work but never to the magTo date, Soles4Souls has disnitude that it is today. I just never tributed a total of 5.5 million realized the need was so great, pairs and should reach 6 million If you could be anyone for a but I soon learned that people by the year’s end. The organizaday who would it be? Bill Gates.

I would like to get inside his understood our elevator speech tion, a 501(c)(3) charity that offers innovative mind. of getting and giving shoes. It’s donating parties tax advantages, simple to understand, and people has made outreach efforts to 125 If you could hire anyone who have gotten plugged in. countries and 48 states via an exwould it be? Chris Hughes, one tensive network of faith-based orof the co-founders of Facebook.

What was your initial goal? ganizations, schools, civic groups, The challenge today is reaching the new millennials, and I want to be I thought we would get a couple individuals and fellow charities. on the cutting edge and in the face hundred thousand pairs in donaIts first five years have amounted of the younger generation. tions without a disaster heightto an amazing success story that ening interest. But it started off has taken Elsey on a worldwide What was your first-ever paying being that figure on a monthly journey as he delivers his simple job? Selling shoes at a Gallenkamp basis. We exceeded our five-year yet difficult to implement mission. store outside of Washington, D.C. plan in the first seven months of Often, Elsey is on his hands and What did you want to be when operation. Before that, however, I knees sizing up those in need. As you grew up? CEO of a shoe only planned one collection tied a result, Elsey says he has been company. Seriously. to helping Asian tsunami victims. profoundly changed for the betThe morning of that disaster, I ter, despite all the bad he has What is your motto? “Grip and rip.” woke up and on TV saw a single witnessed firsthand. And while What one word best describes shoe washed up on a beach. I in his previous life as a footwear you? Motivated. said to myself, I’m a damn fool if executive the goals were comI don’t try to do something about paratively more manageable and Which do you fear more: global this. So I put together a list of inprofitable, Elsey doesn’t regret his warming or world poverty? dustry colleagues to call to ask for career shift. “At the end of the day, World poverty, because it’s shoes to donate to the survivors. if I see a kid living in New Orleans expanding rapidly. There’s a I thought I might get a couple of natural disaster happening every who doesn’t own a pair receive a day right here in America. People hundred, but then the local media donation from us, that’s more imare hurting. The problem is much got involved and citizens started portant than how many pairs of bigger than is recognized right dropping shoes off at my house shoes I could sell at retail,” Elsey now. as well as places around the city surmises. “The return on investthat we had signed up as drop-off ment is different than in running What is your favorite hometown points. People then started buymemory? Going to Carl’s ice a company. Now, my ROI is how cream shop every Sunday with ing shoes at retail for donation. many people’s lives I change by family and friends in my hometown In total, we donated more than offering them hope and dignity or of Fredericksburg, VA. It’s still there 250,000 pairs of which 70 percent quite possibly saving their lives today. came from the footwear industry with a pair of shoes. I’ll take it.” and the rest from citizens. We deHowever, Elsey says the charlivered them in March and April ity’s five-year anniversary is no of 2005. cause for celebration. “I don’t want to celebrate a disaster,” he After that, did you think your shoe charity effort says. “We are ‘forging forward’ to 2015, where we aim to was over? give away a pair every second. We are putting our sights on Yes. But then, a month or two later, I received a 3 a.m. phone the windshield and not the rearview mirror.” call from a man distributing our shoes on the ground in Indonesia. He said he wanted to send me back a pair of shoes to thank me for what I did. He then handed the phone over In your wildest dreams did you ever think Soles4Souls to a young boy who also thanked me for sending the shoes. would evolve into what it has become today?

It made me feel awesome that someone took the time to Absolutely not. I thought the charity would evolve and be 18

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acknowledge my efforts. Plus, it broke my heart.

Did the charity even have a name at that point?

We didn’t have a name for the charity until Hurricane Katrina hit in the fall of that year, and then it was called Katrinashoes.org. In the interim, I had gone back to my day job and wasn’t thinking too much about collecting shoes for charity. After that disaster struck, I thought if we could do this for people on the other side of the world then why can’t we do it for people who live eight hours from where I live? I went back to the phones, put up a Web site called Katrinashoes.org and put together some press releases. A week later, we had a truckload of 11,000 pairs from Gap. In addition, many wholesalers and retailers were shipping shoes to us. We had to set up tents in church parking lots because we didn’t have a warehouse large enough to house all of the donations. Volunteers were working 20 hours a day to move the shoes. It was so crazy. We eventually shipped more than 1.1 million pairs.

Was it still a one-man operation at this point?

I had my good friend Nelson Wilson, a local dentist, helping out. He would take phone calls regarding logistics between patients while I tried to run my footwear company [Kodiak USA] during the day. Around Thanksgiving of that year, I went to a local Maggie Moo’s ice cream shop with Nelson’s brother Paul, who had helped us out with Katrina, and we

came up with the basic idea for Soles4Souls. Paul is a minister and an amazing person who is raising 10 foster kids.

He has spent most of his life focusing on the needs of others and created his own nonprofit relief organization called Four Corners Ministries. I handed his kids my credit card to buy ice cream while I talked to their dad. I said, I think we should start a charity that focuses on collecting shoes— from one pair for a person in need to multiple pairs related to a disaster. My plan was for the charity to be sustainable and make a real difference in people’s lives. I wanted to build something where if somebody needed shoes to start work, they would be able to get a pair, or if someone was in a tough situation and didn’t have the money to buy shoes for their kids for school, then we would supply them. We would have people fill out a brief request application and go from there. I was hoping Paul would tell me “no” (laughs), but he said, “Let’s do it.” Our business plan was done that day and we started in on the legal work and building our Web site.

Soon after, we hired our first employee—out of pocket—to manage procurement from shoe companies.

Why do you think the concept resonated so well right from the get-go?

One, there was no recourse yet for shoe manufacturers and retailers to get rid of unwanted inventory. Before, it would get marked down, put into obsolete inventory, sold to jobbers or donated to multiple charities. There was never

Hush Puppies congratulates ®

on 5 great years.

anyone that served as a secure funnel, if you will, that asked for odds and ends, customer returns and obsolete inventories in order to do something good with them. We became a go-to resource for the shoe industry. They just had to ship the product to us and the rest was done by us.

Secondly, our concept is easy to understand. People have a very personal experience with shoes—everyone likes a good pair, so they can relate to not having a pair.

They may not all be able to relate to a toy, but everybody can relate to a pair of shoes. And as we started procuring footwear, it opened our eyes to the real need out there. It is huge.

Soles4Souls has so many different and creative outreach projects happening simultaneously. Where are all of these outreach ideas coming from?

From all sorts of people, and the ideas evolve from there. For example, someone wrote in with a suggestion that his congregation donate shoes and leave the church barefoot. We went to visit them and then had an “aha” moment that has led to our annual “Barefoot Sunday” and now “Barefoot Week” participation campaigns. A newscaster suggested going barefoot on his show and then why not have his affiliates nationwide go barefoot during Barefoot Week? The ideas are coming from people who are compelled to make a difference in somebody’s life. For example, Dashiel Alsup walked barefoot across the country—that surely wasn’t my idea! He wanted to raise awareness that there are 300 million children around the world who don’t have a pair of shoes. He walked from Seattle to Jacksonville, FL. I didn’t believe him until he got to Colorado.

He stopped at our offices in Nashville and my team and I walked with him for three miles, all barefoot.

It was hot that day, but all I could think was, “This guy has walked across two-thirds of the country, so don’t complain (laughs). Keep walking and shut up.”

He gave me some tips, like walk on the painted line because it’s smooth and cooler, and to walk on the soft grass as a break between any rough stretches.

That night I thought that’s exactly how life is: Your steps in life are not always going to be grassy soft or smooth like the painted stripe, and it’s not always rocky or hot. It’s a lot of everything. Those three miles made me look at what we at Soles4Souls are doing even deeper than I had before, because I was able to realize that walking barefoot is a day-to-day life occurrence for so many people.

Where is the American public in regards to being ‘woken up’ to this need?

We don’t even have our eyes open. If I told you that I saw kids right here in America without shoes and others who have duct tape covered shoes with the toes cut out to accommodate their growing feet, you’d probably call me a liar. But I’ve seen it in Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, Birmingham, New York and Los Angeles. I’ve personally fitted kids who waited for hours to get a mere pair of shoes. Why? We can talk about the need in developing nations and as a result of natural disasters, but there is a disaster right here in America that we as fellow Americans need to wake up and do soles4souls

something about. And while I’m confident that we are communicating the message that there is a need out there—which we’ve shown with compelling pictures and stories from around the world—we need to get more people plugged in to our cause.

What keeps you moving forward despite the tremendous odds?

Instilling hope in a person’s life by suggesting that this gift of shoes enables them to hold his or her head up.

They won’t have to worry about stubbing their toe or cutting their foot. They can look to a better day. That’s a good thing. It may just be the difference between somebody being a winner or a loser in life, or the difference between life and death. Maybe you can’t save the world, but you can die tryin’. I can make that my No. 1 mission and surround myself with good people with the same goal. The biggest aspect about this is first realizing the problem exists. We do, and we realize it’s getting bigger every day and we are doing things to slow the problem down. At the least, we offer hope.

W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

is proud to partner with Soles4Souls™ to see

How Far One Pair Can Go.

What do you love most about your job?

The impact we are making on people’s lives and seeing their smiles. Just getting a hug from a poor woman who has never owned a pair of shoes before or giving a 60-year-old man, who had been using a shovel with bare feet, his first pair of work boots. That’s all that matters. •

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/RJ RQ WR +RW)ORSV QHW IRU \RXU SHUIHFW H[SUHVVLRQ ©2009 GORE-TEX®, GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY®, GORE® and designs are trademarks of W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Soles4Souls’ outreach division ensures donated goods do good.

By Angela Velasquez

PAUL WILSON’S INNATE modesty makes its presence known almost immediately. As president of Soles4Souls’ world outreach division, Wilson has had a heavy hand in the organization’s transformation from “an idea talked about in an ice cream parlor’s parking lot” into a worldwide charity that reaches 125 countries. He’s organized the collection and distribution of nearly 6 million shoes in the last five years and has become the go-to guy for footwear manufacturers with unwanted inventory to donate to people in need worldwide. Yet Wilson downplays what he and the organization have accomplished: “I never set out to reinvent the wheel of distribution,” he says. “And what we do isn’t a new idea.” People have been collecting shoes for charity for decades, but the fact is Wilson has mastered the cycle and millions are reaping the benefits for his knack of “doing good.”

Wilson has just returned from a two-day distribution trip to Mobile and Birmingham, AL, and is back home in Wadley, AL, a short drive from Soles4Souls’s distribution 22

center in Rolling Oak. As he talks about the trip’s success, pointing out the organization’s plan to eventually circle back and help the area again, Wilson steps outside, into the stillsweltering October heat, square onto a piece of melting chewing gum. “Hold on, my shoe is tangled in a web of gum,” he explains. An easygoing Wilson takes it all in stride as he is the foster parent of 12 children and quite accustomed to messy situations. A master at managing logistics, Wilson’s primary role is to maximize Soles4Souls’ inventory of donations and to coordinate and distribute the footwear into remote corners of the world. However, Wilson takes special care to create experiences for the organization’s employees, volunteers and recipients that leave deep and positive impressions similar to the life-changing moments he experienced during his first relief trip to Philadelphia’s inner city at age 12. “A shoe drive is great, but it’s a lot more meaningful when the people collecting are also on hand to pass out the shoes,” he says.

Most of Wilson’s career path has been intertwined with service-oriented jobs and projects.

Relief trips outside his hometown of Mount Juliet, TN, ignited Wilson’s desire to organize and help on a grander scale. It is a labor of love that changed (and continues to change) the shape of his family. After graduating from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master’s in seminary and working in student ministry, Wilson became involved with the WinShape Foundation, a nonprofit founded by S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A fast food chains. The privately funded organization helps secure stable and loving homes to children who are victims of unfortunate circumstances. That led to Wilson and Christy, his wife of 17 years, to become foster parents through the program. [The couple recently welcomed their first twin granddaughters.] “Our children have seen the worst, yet they come to the Soles4Souls warehouse and have gone on Hurricane Katrina relief trips because they feel a need to give back,” Wilson says. “It’s a joy to be able to blend who I care about—my family—with the work I care about.”

Part of Wilson’s mission to change the perception of shoes from just an accessory into a means of protection and good health is carried out through internal distribution soles4souls

trips Wilson arranges for Soles4Souls’ workforce (about 30 employees). “It’s tough work, but the end result is incomparable to anything else,” he explains. “When the staff returns to the office, the climate is changed and it feels like there is more purpose behind their work,” he adds. Success stories—like a young man qualifying for a construction job because Soles4Souls was able to get him a pair of work boots—drive the message home.

Wilson remembers a woman who needed skid-resistant footwear for a job at a meat processing plant. “We got her the shoes and in doing so helped open a door for a single mom,” he explains. “It is very important to me that the experience of receiving the shoe is greater than the benefit of the footwear itself. I want those who receive a pair of shoes from Soles4Souls to feel appreciated, loved and important. They are not a number that we can post in order to say we’ve given X amount of pairs away.”

Soles4Souls’ ability to reach one person as well as hundreds of thousands in need domestically and internationally gives it unique standing among other charitable groups. Its inventory is split into two sections: international and domestic donations. Wilson then directs the footwear to where it can best be used. “Sometimes we are limited to what we can give because of inventory, but we make sure boots go to cold climates and that a village of 2,000 doesn’t get a container of 20,000 pairs. Nothing is wasted.” Wilson also takes into account where the shoes will be the most well received. Although some areas of the States, like the Appalachian region, take kindly to gently used footwear, others do not. If put in the wrong hands, some shoes may be tossed away. Therefore, Wilson reserves a bulk of brand-new footwear for domestic distribution. “There’s always a shortage for domestic shoes, but the gap is beginning to close,” he explains.

A lot has changed in Soles4Souls’ five-year history.

Manufacturers from as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand now contact Wilson to help set up their donations. In addition to clearing out their domestic warehouses, U.S.-based companies like Red Wing and Timberland are working with Soles4Souls to move outdated stock out of European and Asian markets. And thanks to partnerships with organizations that have shipping grants as well as monetary donations Soles4Souls collects via events and store promotions, the organization is able to ship more shoes. Recently, Indianapolis-based Finish Line donated $1 to Soles4Souls for each pair its visitors donated. “Shipping is our biggest expenditure,” Wilson says. “The rest of our work does not call for much money, so what we can earn through promotions and events is put to good use and helps shoes get to where they are needed.”

Two factors that remain constant are Wilson’s strong partnerships with individuals, churches, manufacturers and other organizations (some of his relationships date back to his earliest charitable days) and the need for more donations. “Between the recent Atlanta floods and the earthquakes that hit the Pacific Rim region, there are a lot of people who need assistance right now,” Wilson says. “But when the time gets tough, our strong relationships and network of amazing people are ready to help.” •

* &21*5$78/$7,216 * WAYNE ELSEY

and the entire Soles4Souls family for 5 years of changing the world, one pair at a time.

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KEVIN GOUGHARY, CFO/COO “I never saw myself doing this,” says Kevin Goughary, who spent more than 20 years in the footwear industry and worked alongside Soles4Souls founder Wayne Elsey back in the ’90s. “When Wayne started the organization, he called me up with a very interesting proposition.

He said, ‘How would you like to make a living, have a good time doing it and go to bed knowing you’ve helped hundreds of people that day?’ I laughed and said, ‘That sounds good. Is it legal?’”

Overseeing operations at the Nashville office may not make for the most exciting story, Goughary jokes, but his role is increasingly important as the charity grows. “There’s a big financial aspect of running an effort that’s roughly a $40 million business now,” he says. “This year, we’ll give out about 3 million pairs of shoes. I’m always tracking footwear donations coming in and out of our warehouses and to and from outreach missions.”

He’s also building up the donor list to help Soles4Souls meet its five-year goal of giving away a pair of shoes every second. “We’ve got such a myriad of programs now reaching out to every demographic we can find to build our presence,” he says. “It all falls into how, operationally, we plan to get the organization into the future.”

As more outside parties contact Soles4Souls hoping to get shoes for their community, ensuring compliance is also key. “We have a very stringent distribution agreement that qualifies [parties] to receive our shoes,” Goughary says, noting it certifies they won’t turn around and sell or barter the footwear but make sure it gets to individuals truly in need.

While his work keeps him at a desk much of the time, Goughary has had the opportunity to see the charity in action. He recalls one little boy he met while distributing shoes in Reynosa, Mexico, a town just across the Texas border where many families live in poverty.

“He just clung to me walking down the street. We were chatting to each other, not understanding each other’s language; he just knew we were there to help.” Seeing the joy that the shoes bring to people makes all the hard work worth it, Goughary says. “This is just a great way to make a living.” soles4souls

BRIAN WILLIAMS, SPOKESPERSON/“SOUL MOTIVATOR” A first-degree black belt since the fifth grade, a co-star of MTV’s first martial arts reality show and the founder of a successful martial arts school, Brian Williams probably isn’t a guy you want to make mad. Luckily, he uses his powers for good, having founded a West Coast nonprofit called Think Kindness to help teach kids that small acts of goodwill can snowball to make the world a better place.

Williams’ tie to Soles4Souls blossomed after he motivated two Reno, NV, schools to challenge their community to collect shoes for orphans in Kenya. “They collected over 8,000 pairs in less than 60 days,” he reports. The kids were so pumped, they then raised funds to cover the shipping costs and held a mile-long barefoot walk to raise awareness. Williams had been in touch with Soles4Souls throughout the initiative, and eventually they decided to join forces. “Now I’m going to schools across the nation, challenging everyone to make a difference in the world, starting from the feet up.”

By sharing personal experiences, encouraging kindness and engaging students in friendly competition, Williams spreads his social responsibility message along with Soles4Souls’ mission. The culmination is a top-secret mission—he challenges the kids to do what they can to assist children overseas, who often are not allowed to attend school unless they have proper footwear. With the reach of Soles4Souls, demand for Williams’ program is exploding, which helps him toward his personal goal to impact as many people as possible.

Williams went to Kenya himself to deliver the footwear from Reno, and recalls the children’s faces lighting up as they tried on shoes. “Something as simple as that—it just made the work we do hit home,” he says.

One 18-year-old about to age out of the orphanage told Williams he was scared to leave, but the gift gave him encouragement. “He told me, ‘This shows me there are people around the world who haven’t forgotten us and are sending us love.’ To hear that is life-changing. A simple pair of shoes means a world of difference to a child in need.”

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TIFFANY JOHNSON, SPOKESPERSON/SINGER With her debut CD on the way and performance calendar filling up, country singer Tiffany Johnson has found she can increase Soles4Souls’ audience as she grows her own.

First introduced to Soles4Souls in 2007, Johnson initially worked with the organization on a volunteer basis, holding a benefit concert in its Nashville hometown. “As I got to know what Soles4Souls did, I got involved in other areas,” she says. “I just loved what it was about.” Once officially signed on as a charity spokesperson, she began traveling through the United States and Mexico, championing the charity’s cause at concerts, conventions and other special events.

Johnson views the link between her vocal career and charitable work

as a no-brainer. “Music captivates people and hits them emotionally,” she explains. “It feels great when you’re able to use that platform to talk about an organization that’s changing people’s lives.” One of the songs on her forthcoming album, which Johnson co-wrote, tells the story of how shoes impacted her

“We don’t just give away shoes; we give away hope.” first public performance as a child.

(Her mom dusted her Buster Browns with red glitter, giving her the boost of confidence she needed to get on stage and sing.) Johnson feels Soles4Souls offers that same inspiration to the individuals it helps. “We don’t just give away shoes; we’re giving away hope,” she says.

“I love singing, but I always want to put my hands to something,” Johnson adds. “I’m just as fulfilled doing a shoe distribution as I am getting up

DAVID GRABEN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS David Graben is a busy man. In October alone, Soles4Souls had approximately 42 events on the docket—and he says that doesn’t even include anything happening within the footwear industry. From laying the groundwork for everything from a Thanksgiving-themed neighborhood party to a DJ C-LO concert to a massive shoe collection at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Graben’s priority is staying on top of the details. And as more groups inquire about holding a Soles4Souls event, his day planner is filling up fast.

“My job is to make sure we’re giving everyone ample attention but also taking advantage when we spot something that could be more than just an event,” Graben explains.

Soles4Souls has its shoe drive setup down to a science for businesses or other parties to implement, but the team likes to find creative ways to draw more attention to its cause so word of its mission will spread. In the beginning, it was difficult to get major retail companies to return Soles4Souls’ calls, Graben says. “Now, they call and ask us if we can develop a special program for them.”

Volunteering to set up the first official Soles4Souls office led Graben to his position, but his background in hospitality and event planning made him a natural point person once the WSA Show, a trade show for the footwear industry, invited the organization to produce a large-scale fundraiser in Las Vegas. “That was right up my alley,” he says, noting he had managed food and beverage operations and

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and performing.” She got the chance to do just that in August, when she headed to Mexico to deliver shoes to an orphanage. It was a humbling experience, she reports. “We look in our closets and think, ‘I don’t have the newest pair of booties for the season.’

But down there, the children don’t have any shoes.”

Johnson describes one interaction with a little girl that was especially moving. “She had a club foot and was trying to hide it [from a team member trying to fit her into shoes]. He asked me if I wanted to try.” Working with a translator, Johnson told the little girl she was beautiful and eventually found her a comfortable fit. “Her face just lit up. In those few minutes, she seemed to forget about her foot. You come back from something like that just thankful you were a part of it.”

events for universities, convention centers and helped produce music festivals in the past.

Nowadays, “On Monday I might be in Memphis handing out shoes at a homeless shelter, then on Tuesday at a men’s home,” Graben says, adding that he also regularly speaks to the media about Soles4Souls’ latest happenings. One of his most memorable moments on the job was at a Northern Arizona Food Bank event in Flagstaff, where several Native American tribal leaders spoke in their native languages about life on the reservation as long lines of people amassed to receive shoes. “I just got cold chills,” he says. “This is happening in the United States, it’s not just third-world countries.

It was heartbreaking yet exhilarating [knowing we were providing help].”

Although each of his projects can be vastly different from the last, Graben notes that ultimately, what Soles4Souls is doing is straightforward: “We collect and give shoes. What we have to do to get to that is a little complicated, but our goals are simple.”

soles4souls

KEITH WOODLEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT Having joined Soles4Souls last March, Keith Woodley says he quickly realized how much most Americans take for granted— especially seemingly little things like shoes. A 24-year veteran of footwear companies including Payless ShoeSource and Brown Shoe Co., he has witnessed firsthand how passionate people can be about shoes. “Clothing is one thing, but footwear really transcends that, no matter who you talk to.”

When Elsey met Woodley through a mutual friend, he knew the executive’s knowledge of the footwear world and industry contacts would be a boon to the organization, and he invited him on board to build relationships through cause-marketing initiatives. Woodley says he’s thrilled to take his business experience and use it in a way that contributes to the greater good. “So many diseases we don’t even think about are contracted through the feet because the areas people are walking through are not clean,” he says, noting that a gift of shoes can enhance someone’s life in many ways.

Woodley’s role includes partnering with companies on events that can be win-win for both parties. That could be promoting a shoe drive (for example, Puma recently installed a collection box in a Puma retail store where consumers can drop off gently worn pairs), creating limited-edition items with a portion of sales funneled to the charity (Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt did this with Macbeth Footwear) or creating co-branded marketing campaigns (in July, Nine West launched its new Vintage Collection this fall, featuring prominent Soles4Souls tie-ins). “I’ve been trying to take our message and tailor it to different companies from a cause standpoint to figure out how we can partner to enhance both brands,” Woodley explains. “Usually when a company is marketing and developing its brand, there are defined ways of doing that. Here, the possibilities are endless.”

Creativity and sky’s-the-limit brainstorming is one of the best parts of being a part of the Soles4Souls team, Woodley notes. “We all have our own roles but the teamwork is incredible.” And this spirit pushes him to keep at his personal goal: to double the organization’s business and outreach network in the next five years. “I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface. Every day is a new day. I’ve never been so energized about anything I’ve done in the past. It’s just a gift for me personally to be part of something bigger.” >36

Congratulations on Five Years of Helping People in Need, and Thanks for Your Invaluable Partnership with K.I.D.S.

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Clockwise from top left: Ed Habre (in red hat) and homeless camp volunteers; the Portland park where the Shoe Mill distribution was held; three U-Hauls transported shoes to the event.

An Oregon shoe giveaway makes an impact on retail workers as much as locals in need. By Melissa Knific

THE SHOE MILL staff was never the same after June 5, 2009. On that date the seven-store comfort footwear chain, based in Portland, OR, teamed with Nashville, TN, nonprofit Soles4Souls to host a one-day charity event where locals in need were provided with new socks and shoes. “Our company culture was changed that day,” Habre says, noting that at any given time, an estimated 400 people were patiently waiting in a line that 28

wrapped around the downtown city park where the event was held.

Habre began planning the event with Soles4Souls earlier that spring— a lengthy but smart lead-time considering the logistics surrounding it.

“There are just little things you don’t think about,” he says, referring to everything from organizing volunteers to ordering U-Hauls to renting portable toilets. “When you’ve got nothing but grass and trees and you have

to turn it into a shoe store, you’ve got quite a project.” As laborious as it was, though, Habre says it was well worth the effort: The giveaway, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., provided shoes and socks supplied by Soles4Souls—1,000 of which came from Adidas’ Portlandbased North America subsidiary—to nearly 5,000 people in need.

To get the word out regarding the free footwear, Shoe Mill contacted various charities and shelters in the soles4souls

area. “At sunrise, people were already lining up,” Habre recalls. “Once the event started, it became word of mouth.” The number of people— especially kids—needing shoes took him aback. “We didn’t anticipate there would be that many children,” he says, noting that next time, they will be sure to have more pairs for little ones on hand. Despite the large crowd, Habre says everything remained incredibly orderly. Each person was given a fresh pair of socks and was then fitted for shoes just as they would have been serviced at a Shoe Mill store. (Habre noted the the signifigance of this respectful treatment made an impact, as several visitors became teary-eyed over their kindness.)

Rounding up help proved to be challenging—not because there weren’t enough Shoe Mill volunteers but because there were so many willing to lend a hand. Habre realized that he still had to operate his stores that day, so unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to allow his entire staff to participate. He

selected a number of his employees, who donned T-shirts with the Soles4Souls logo on the front and the Shoe Mill logo on the back; Adidas and Dr. Martens USA (also based in Portland) sent volunteers as well. Local businesses and charities proved their generosity as well: Area restaurants provided breakfast and lunch, and a nearby mission loaned chairs so visitors could sit while being fitted.

The event was the first large-scale Soles4Souls’ outreach in which Shoe Mill participated. However, the charity wasn’t unfamiliar to the retailer’s customers. Each of the locations installed donation boxes in 2007, allowing shoppers to drop off their gently used footwear. Besides feeling charitable, those donating have some incentive to do so, as dollar-off coupons are provided to do-gooders.

Prior to hosting his own event, Habre participated in a similar sit-andfit during a National Shoe Retailers Association (NSRA) meeting earlier this year in St. Petersburg, FL. Instead

of engaging in a typical opening-day icebreaker, attendees spent their time at a nearby homeless camp fitting shoes. “It set the tone for our conference,” says Habre, who previously served as chairman of NSRA’s board of directors. “It touched us so deeply.”

Habre took what he learned from the NSRA event to help him prepare for Shoe Mill’s giveaway.

Habre plans on hosting another distribution next year. Taking a look back at the extensive planning that went into the first one, he knows he’ll have to prepare early on for the best result.

In the end, though, he says the outcome is what it’s all about—not just for those who receive the shoes but also for those giving them. “Be prepared to have your heart broken. When you see the need, it’s overwhelming,” he offers to retailers interested in holding an event of their own. “When you see your staff with tears in their eyes, it really affects you… It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to participate in an event like that.”•

From top: One of Schuler Shoes’ storefronts; volunteers gather shoes for The Big Shoe Give; kids show off the donated footwear.

A Minneapolis footwear chain spends five days piling in the shoes for Soles4Souls.

By Melissa Knific

LOOKS CAN BE deceiving. It certainly was the case when Schuler Shoes, a 120-year-old Minneapolis-based comfort footwear retailer, completed its first-ever shoe drive in conjunction with Nashville, TN, charity Soles4Souls. Having never participated in such a large footwear-collecting event, Kari Palmer, the chain’s marketing director, didn’t know what to expect.

She rented an extra-large truck, estimating it would be a tight fit when all the shoes were piled inside; it wasn’t.

(This has become a running joke for 30

Palmer, who now realizes what size truck to arrange.)

However, the retailer—which operates eight Schuler Shoes locations, four New Balance Twin Cities and one SAS store in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area—has little to be embarrassed about. In its five-day event, coined “The Big Shoe Give,” it managed to collect a whopping 10,500 pairs of shoes. “Our expectation level was knocked out of the park,” Palmer recalls. “We were surprised at how generous people were in their giving.” She

was especially blown away considering it was pouring rain on the opening day, a factor she worried would deter people from attending.

To prepare for The Big Shoe Give, held Aug. 7–11 of this year, Palmer got in touch with local radio hosts Ian & Margery of FM 107.1, a married couple that lives out their life on air. Well known (and respected) in the area, Palmer knew that their help promoting the event would boost interest, and Margery was more than happy to help. “I couldn’t have dreamed up soles4souls

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someone more excited to endorse our [cause],” Palmer adds. In addition, Applebee’s donated food, and those who brought in shoes had a chance to win baseball and theater tickets provided by local businesses. To top it off, Schuler Shoes threw in a $300 gift certificate. Palmer quickly learned, however, that free grub and prizes weren’t the main draw. “It really was the philanthropic idea of helping people in need,” she notes. “It probably could have been just as successful if we said ‘just bring in shoes.’”

While each and every person demonstrated his or her generosity, Palmer was in awe of one family in particular that was devoted to the cause: a mother-and-son team who was challenged by their church to participate in outreach. The 10-year-old and his mom amassed 1,800 pairs—the largest donation of the event. Palmer enjoyed watching local children get involved, and stressed the importance of giving back at a young age.

Her own kids went door to door in their neighborhood collecting shoes for the cause.

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Palmer’s biggest concern with the event was how they were going to afford shipping the shoes. Her worry was absolved when a friend of a friend who owns a trucking company offered to drive the shoes to the charity’s Alabama warehouse if the retailer paid for the gas to get him there. “There was no way I could have done that event [without him],” she says, noting that his offer saved about $10,000.

Schuler Shoes first partnered with Soles4Souls when Palmer joined the staff a year ago and wanted to explore cause marketing. “It seemed like a natural fit,” she says.

The partnership began with the installation of donation bins in each of the retailer’s 13 locations. Local newspapers agreed to run free ads announcing the partnership informing readers where they could donate gently used footwear. That response was tremendous in itself, Palmer reports, estimating that the boxes have likely garnered as many pairs as The Big Shoe Give.

The event not only brought about more awareness of the cause, but Palmer notes it also increased the retailer’s foot traffic and, ultimately, sales. “August isn’t really a big month,” she notes, explaining that it’s often a period when the stores are clearing old stock. However, this year’s August sales outpaced the previous year’s.

“The biggest shock was that we really did sell shoes.”

Palmer reported that the philanthropic event drew customers new and old into the stores. In the end, though, it was all about giving: “Not one person said, ‘What do I get?’” she adds. Schuler Shoes plans to host a second shoe drive next August.• soles4souls

ALEXANDER DIAZ WANTS your shoes—badly. The 30-year-old Puerto Rico native and now Charlton, MA, resident is on a yearlong mission to collect 100,000 pairs of shoes to donate to Soles4Souls. Since March, Diaz has been using the three UPS stores that he coowns with his family in the Massachusetts towns of Worcester, Holden and Auburn as collection points, and he’s already collected 35,000 pairs to date.

The shoe drive is Diaz’s way of giving back to people in need. Having arrived in this country eight years ago with just $100 in his pocket to successfully operating multiple UPS stores with his partner, Diaz believed it was time to make a difference in the lives of people who need help. New Year’s Eve 2009 brought about his resolution: “Be more positive.” With the economy being difficult, Diaz decided to use the resources he had available, and the idea of using the stores to collect shoes was born. Unsure of how to do it or where the shoes would ultimately go, he put a box in the Auburn store and started asking customers to donate shoes. Before the week was out, he had collected 44 pairs. Pleased with this initial “success,” Diaz and his partner decided on a donation goal: “100,000 pairs to keep 200,000 feet happy!” A mission statement followed and, soon after, he formed a partnership with Soles4Souls.

With tireless energy, Diaz has collection boxes in all three stores and has partnered with 10 organizations and two churches. A website—Wewantyourshoes. com—provides information on donating. Diaz supporters can ship their shoes directly to a Soles4Souls warehouse or donate money for shoes by calling (866) 521-7463 or visiting www.giveshoes.org. Donors should mark their boxes with the code “DIAZ” to have their shoes counted as part of his collection goal.

“We need more people like Alexander to help us serve the people that truly need our help,” Soles4Souls’ CEO Wayne Elsey says. “His efforts demonstrate an important part of our mission, which is designed to bring communities together with the common goal of helping people in need.” soles4souls

NET RESULTS

With an estimated 300 million children worldwide not owning shoes, kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sizes are one of the charityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most requested items.

Soles4Souls teams with other aid organizations to outfit feet along with other basic needs.

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Soles4Souls’ distributions help ensure children’s education in parts of the world where schools require students to wear shoes.

Children in Mexico receive new footwear from Soles4Souls’ vendor partners.

Soles4Souls’ founder and CEO Wayne Elsey spreads hope through the gift of shoes.

Soles4Souls gathers product from numerous organizations and passes them on to the young and old in the U.S. and countries worldwide.

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Team Effort • continued from p. 27

CHRIS CARMICHAEL, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Soles4Souls’ Web and PR guru, Chris Carmichael was brought on to help brand the charity on a national level. “I’ve worked with a few charities in the past and just dove right in,” he says, noting CEO Wayne Elsey had been brainstorming ways companies could parlay their involvement with the charity into a means of boosting their own business. Drawing ideas from various cause-marketing case studies, Soles4Souls has tapped into virtually all available avenues—from its official Web site to blogs to Twitter—to communicate its efforts and thanks to donors.

It takes consistency and constant effort to maintain a 24/7 online presence, Carmichael says. “Our cornerstone is our reputation,” he adds, noting any less dedication could erode what Soles4Souls has built to date. But it isn’t enough to be just an “Internet charity,” Carmichael asserts: “Awareness on its own doesn’t do anything. You have to move to next phase—participation.

Then comes engagement and ownership. It’s enthusiasm we want to elicit.”

As such, Carmichael helps find ways to spark a response from different groups. Some parties are drawn to the charity’s humanitarian aspect; others like the fact that donating to Soles4Souls has a positive environmental impact, saving a lot of still-wearable shoes from winding up in landfills. Carmichael also connects with other charitable organizations, noting that together they can make a greater impact than each would alone. “Footwear is a huge part, of course, but when we tie into other organizations that supply food, water, mosquito nets, etc., we’re part of an overall solution for a whole region.”

All of these efforts give Carmichael plenty of great stories to tell. One of his favorites is his own: A man named Zed e-mailed him, wanting to volunteer during a Soles4Souls Barefoot Week in Portland, OR. He showed up to the event as promised, rolled up his sleeves and jumped in to help. Later, Carmichael learned that Zed was homeless himself. “When you have people like that stepping up to support the cause,” he notes, “how can we not succeed?”

CRYSTAL ELSEY, DONOR & MARKETING SERVICES COORDINATOR The days of fundraising via door-to-door candy sales are over. According to Crystal Elsey, kids—especially teens—have a philanthropic mindset and are active about world issues, which perfectly sets the stage for Soles4Souls’ fundraisers. “Donors love that they’re not only giving money to support students in their community but that it’s going toward a bigger cause.”

“When I say ‘fundraiser,’ people don’t always get that these events are not just about raising funds for us.

Schools, businesses, youth groups, etc., can also raise money for their own organization.” Elsey sets groups up with a system for collecting $5 or $10 donations. “It costs us $2 to $3 to make and distribute one pair of Soles4Souls flip-flops,” she notes, which means the group can keep 40 percent of their totals to put toward their own initiatives (although some do choose to give all of the funds to the charity).

Elsey also helps groups that have come up with their own creative ideas for raising money for the charity turn their ideas into reality. She notes a soonto-launch back-end fundraising Web site will make it even easier for groups to collect funds on Soles4Souls’ behalf. “We’re always wanting to stay current, improve, evolve with the times and stay one step ahead,” Elsey says, noting that the whole staff shares this attribute. “We’re constantly asking ourselves ‘What else can we do?’ Soles4Souls has delivered more than 5 million pairs since its inception, and that’s a lot, but we’re looking at 300 million [people in need].

We’ve made a dent, but the crisis is still there.”

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ANGELA FOGLESONG, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Angela Foglesong, a graphic designer by trade, says she jumped at the opportunity to do what she loves on behalf of the charity. “With Soles4Souls, it’s cool because I’m always doing something different. It could be creating a direct mail piece, a Web page, event posters—there’s a big variety, and there’s always something happening.”

Fortunately, Foglesong says she tends to work best when there are tons of projects piling in. And Soles4Souls’ resident photographer/videographer Kirk Kellerhals gives her plenty to work with, capturing images from the charity’s events, shoe distributions and more. “When he comes back from a trip with oodles of photos, I’ll just sit there looking through them and cry. For some people, it’s their very first pair of shoes, or their first pair of brand-new shoes. Their reactions just melt your heart.”

She’s seen them in person, too, having helped out on one of Soles4Souls’ first distributions held in an Alabama church that had been flooded during Hurricane Katrina. “You could see the water line on the wall,” Foglesong says, noting whole families and people from all walks of life were in line to receive shoes.

“You think, this could be me tomorrow.”

Putting herself in the position of those in need has incited Foglesong to find ways to do more. An avid runner, she is musing ways she can turn that passion into a way to raise funds for the charity. “Once you see what it means to people to have others helping them out, you can’t help but wonder, ‘Is there something else I can do?’” soles4souls

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www.Soles4Souls.org

THE A GROUP

CONGRATULATES

SOLES4SOULS ON FIVE GREAT YEARS OF HELPING THOSE IN NEED.

R THANK

YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO TO BE YOUR ONLINE MARKETING PARTNER.

“The A Group has been a great strategic partner in helping Soles4Souls to grow and develop into one of America’s fastest growing charities. Their online tools and innovative use of social media has helped us to engage a new generation of donors.”

–Wayne Elsey (CEO/Founder | Soles4Souls)

5)& " (3061 marketing & media www.agroup.com