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Best foot forward: Local church collects shoes for those in need

Most of us have an extra pair of shoes or boots just taking up space in our closets.

Instead of throwing away the unneeded footwear, the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Sidney is collecting shoes from area residents throughout October and November. Its goal is to help the millions of people worldwide who can't afford shoes, and therefore can't go to school or get jobs.

The church collects the shoes and sends them to the Soles4Souls organization, a global not-for-profit institution that is dedicated to fighting the impact and perpetuation of poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing.

Based out of Nashville, Tenn., the organization distributes shoes and clothing in two ways.

According to the Soles4Souls website, most new items collected from corporations and retailers are given directly to people in need, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Additionally, collections gathered by individuals, schools, churches and other organizations are sorted and then sold to carefully selected micro-enterprise organizations. These companies provide shipping, financing, inventory and training to small businesses to create jobs in places such as Haiti.

"A couple years ago was the first time we ever heard of (Soles4Souls)," said Deb Aikens, administrative assistant at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. "Somebody had come in and donated a huge amount of new shoes, like 20 or 30 pairs."

Last year, the church had collection boxes at their church and area businesses, and got a good response.

"Cindy (Rohm) had a box at the Coffee Corner last year," Aikens said. "We got 400 pairs of shoes."

Soles4Souls accepts any type of shoes, including athletic shoes, dress shoes, flip flops, heels, work boots and more, as long as they are new or gently worn.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is accepting shoes and money for the cause. Any money collected will be used to ship the shoes to a Soles4Souls warehouse.

"We do accept money," Aikens said. "In fact, we had one family last year who donated (the total cost of) shipping."

Aikens has sent out flyers about Soles4Souls to area churches, and encourages any local businesses who are interested in hosting a shoe collection box to give her a call.

"Some people can't have a job or go to school if they don't have shoes," she said. "It's important to give shoes to help them get out of poverty. We're helping kids to go to school so they can get jobs and get out of poverty."

Anyone who has shoes to donate may drop them off at the Trinity Center at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, located at 2305 San Marino Rd. in Sidney, or at the Sidney Sun-Telegraph office located at 817 12th Ave.

For more information, or to host a collection box, call Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at (308) 254-3124.

 

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