SOLES4SOULS NATIONAL BAREFOOT SUNDAY

Soles4Souls, the international footwear charity based in Nashville, has planned a series of nationwide events to be held June 1-7, 2008. "National Barefoot Day" will take place on Sunday, June 1, with various events across the country.

Footwear is a basic need that most of us take for granted every day.  While most of the world does not have one adequate pairs of shoes, Americans have an abundance of footwear sitting idle in our closets. Simply cleaning out your closets can make a significant difference in the quality of life of someone in need.

For us, comfort and style are the primary reasons for the footwear we select. For those without shoes the healthcare benefits is the most urgent reason footwear is so desperately needed. A quality pair of shoes protects their foot from scrapes, cuts, and contaminants that lead to potentially serious healthcare issues.

Soles4Souls along with its many distribution partners are working “around the corner and around the world” to make a difference with the gift of shoes. They are presently working in over 35 states and 50 countries. Donating shoes can make a difference in our own back yard as well as globally

A sad fact is that there are 300 million children in the world who have never owned a pair of shoes, while the same number of shoes were tossed into American landfills last year.  This will give people a reason to clean out their closets and help needy people while reducing the strain on our landfills at the same time.

Ongoing donations help the organization have a ready supply in case of natural disasters.   From the wildfires in Southern California, floods in the Mid-West, and the tornados in the Southeast, Soles4Souls were able to respond quickly and efficiently with needed footwear.  Shoes are also shared with camps for disadvantaged children, Hopi and Navajo Indian reservations, Appalachia, women’s shelters, inner city hospitals, and to the homeless.

Globally the primary target has been orphanages throughout Central and South America, Europe, and Africa. Most recently Soles4Souls has been able to further expand into Asia as well as Australia.  Arrangements are being made to ship shoes to Myanmar.

The greatest daily challenge for many village women is to supply the family with drinking water. Many women walk as many as five miles one way to get to the water source. On the return trip they carry as much as 50 pounds of water back to their village. Most women accomplish this daily no or inadequate footwear. Casual, comfortable shoes can make this daily challenge task much more achievable for these women.

Unity of Bandon will be collecting shoes from now through June 8.We are also looking into becoming a permanent drop location for collecting shoes for those in need - stay tuned! Cash donations for shipping the shoes to the distribution center will be greatly appreciated. For more information visit www.Soles4Souls.org or call (866) 521-SHOE.

             Unity of Bandon

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