Give New Life to Your Old Shoes

Photo credit Joe Hastings

Can you imagine your child being denied an education because he or she doesn’t have shoes? Yet in many impoverished countries, footwear is a requirement to attend classes. Lack of shoes also contributes to the spread of disease.

Soles 4 Souls, a Nashville-based charity, collects new and gently used shoes and distributes them to people in need. To date, the charity has given away nearly 14 million pairs of shoes to people in more than 125 countries. Now, you can help.

An amazing young man, Sam Dobro, a seventh-grader at MS51, is heading up a collection initiative here in Park Slope. Please bring gently used shoes of any size (kids, adults) to the real estate office of Brown Harris Stevens, at the corner of Union St. and 7th Ave., which is serving as the dropoff point.

When donating, please tie shoes in pairs, secure them with a rubber band, or put them in a bag. Sam will pick them up periodically when the box is full. The shoe drive is going on through May 1, 2011.

This a great way to help others, clean out some closet space, and support the efforts of an impressive young man in our community.