Celebrity Involvement

Shoe charity is perfect fit for WSA

By Vincent Hernandez
Trade Show Expo

LAS VEGAS — A simple pair of flip-flops can prevent a child from getting a disease.

Perhaps no organization knows this better than Soles4Souls, the Nashville, Tenn.-based charity whose mission is to collect gently worn and new shoes for distribution to people around the world. It seems only fitting that a non-profit charity that gives shoes to the needy make a presence at the World Shoe Association Shoe Show held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Feb. 2-5 in Las Vegas. Nev.

Mark Granger, Soles4Souls

The non-profit group used the three-day event to spread its message to “Change the World One Pair at a Time,” using collection boxes and a celebrity appearance. It is an organization whose cause has grown even more necessary in light of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

“The shoe industry is a small industry so everyone kind of banded together and unfortunately tragedy brings out the best in people,” said Mark Granger, a 40-year veteran of the shoe industry who is now involved with the procurement of shoes for Soles4Souls. “When you have a catastrophe like Haiti it really does brings out the best in people. We’ve committed to a hundred thousand pairs of shoes three weeks ago and nearly 750,000 pairs of shoes have been collected in less than three weeks.”

While it is in need of protective footwear, Haiti needs in much more and Soles4Souls works with other organizations to send as much supplies as it can.

“We are loading containers with a few hundred pairs of shoes, water, food, medical supplies and clothing in conjunction with other charities,” Granger said.

With more than 300 million children who do not own a single pair of shoes, and an estimated 1.5 billion people without shoes, Sole4Souls gives away one pair of shoes every nine seconds.

“Our goal this year is to get down to one pair of shoes every second whom we probably will reach,” he said. Granger stressed that shoes are donated and never sold to anyone in need of shoes. His involvement has become his way of giving back for all his years as a traveling shoe salesman.

“This is my way of paying back,” Granger said. “The shoe business has been good to me. It’s a payback and it’s very rewarding.”

Granger retired four years ago but remains busy in the shoe industry with his involvement with Soles4Souls. Today he spends his time meeting with manufacturers and distributors for the collection of shoes.

This year Soles4Souls is marking its fifth year of serving people in need. Today many celebrities give their time and image to help bring attention to the cause.

Not far from where Granger was talking about his role with Soles4Soles, television actor Donald Faison, star of the television show “Scrubs” was signing photos and taking photos with WSA exhibitors and attendees.

“Anytime you can lend your name to something great like (Soles4Soles) it’s a good thing,” Faison said.

Faison and VH1 “The Price of Beauty” star CaCee Cobb were both present at WSA to sign autographs for fans. Cobb, who also happens to be Faison’s girlfriend, was the one who first got Faison interested in becoming involved with Soles4Souls and together they are helping to raise awareness for the shoe charity’s efforts in Haiti.

"WSA is honored to partner with Soles4Souls to support the Haitian Relief effort. We are inspired by Soles4Souls' dedication to humanitarian efforts around the world. ENK International is committed to working together with the Footwear Industry to make a difference,” said Pam Baffo, Director WSA.

The idea for Soles4Souls stems form a reaction to the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia by founder Wayne Elsey, who happened to be watching the news that night.

“When the tsunami hit he went home that evening and saw a pair of shoes on the news floating on a beach and it bothered him,” Granger said. “So he contacted a lot of people he knew in the shoe industry and was able to gather up a couple of hundred thousand pairs of shoes in a real short period of time.”

Katrina happened soon after the tsunami, and the group collected around 750,000 pairs of shoes for that and the cause has continued to since then.

Soles4Souls, in partnership with several donors from the footwear industry, has pledged more than 1 million pairs of shoes to Haiti. This commitment is part of Soles4Souls sustainable efforts to help the region rebuild during the next few years. The goal of Soles4Souls is a simple one — change the world one pair at a time.

Soles4Souls receives large donations from footwear companies, retailers, churches, nonprofit ministries, civic groups, schools, and individuals and saw that this could become a full time organization. That's why Soles4Souls was created — to facilitate the donations from these groups to the people who desperately need footwear.

People and companies interested in donating can visit the organization’s website at www.giveshoes.org.

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 7 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 9 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.  Soles4Souls has been featured in Runner's World, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic’s Green Guide and The New York Times. It has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC, CNN and thousands of regional news outlets across North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Anyone can join our cause, and we need your help. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information. [Feb. 12, 2010]