Two Shoe Charities That You Can (and Should!) Support
Instead of allowing old or under-used shoes to clutter up your closet (or a landfill), consider donating your shoes to one of the charitable causes listed below:
Nike' Shoe Recycling and Sustainability Program (Reuse-A-Shoe). Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program started in the 1990s when the company decided to reduce its environmental impact. The shoe giant's goal was to reduce the number of old Nike athletic shoes ending up in landfills. (Runners are well aware of how many shoes they go through in a year. The average runner can wear his or her athletic shoes for roughly 400 miles. It is not unheard of for serious runners to need a new pair of shoes every three months!) The first step to recycling your athletic shoes with Nike is to find a Reuse-A-Shoe drop-off location. These drop-off centers can be located in Nike stores, universities, athletic clubs or a National Recycling Coalition center. If you do not live near a Nike drop-off location, you can mail your shoes directly to the Nike recycling facility (mailing labels can be printed off the website www.nikereuseashoe.com). Nike will recycle any athletic shoes, not just the Nike brand. The only criterion is that your athletic shoes do not have metal cleats. The collected shoes are broken down and transformed into a material known as 'Nike Grind', which is used to make athletic and playground surfaces.
Souls 4 Soles. Souls 4 Soles is an organization that facilitates the collecting of shoe donations and distributes these donations to people in need of shoes around the world. The organization was founded in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that struck Southeast Asia. The eventual founder and CEO of Soles 4 Soles, Wayne Elsey, wanted to do something to help the victims of this national disaster. At the time, Elsey was working for a major footwear company. After seeing a photograph of a single shoe washed up on a beach, he made some phone calls and managed to collect roughly 250,000 pairs of shoes to donate to the victims of the tsunami. Elsey was moved to help out once again after Hurricane Katrina and soon decided to transform his charitable efforts into a full time occupation. Soles 4 Souls sends shoes to disaster relief areas around the world as well as in the United States. You can look up the drop-off location nearest you on the Soles 4 Souls' website (www.soles4souls.org) or send your gently worn (or new!) shoes to one of three headquarter locations (addresses listed on the website).
