THE INTERACT CLUB OF LASALLE HOSTS SECOND SOLES4SOULS CAMPAIGN IN RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL SHOE THE WORLD DAY
The Interact Club of LaSalle, a youth philanthropy team sponsored by the Rotary Club of LaSalle-Centennial, has launched their second initiative to collect gently worn or new shoes to support the Soles4Souls organization in recognition of National Shoe the World Day, March 15.
Soles4Souls is a non-profit organization that works to create jobs and provide immediate relief to those below the poverty line. This organization provides gently used and new shoes to 127 countries around the world. Since 2006, Soles 4 Souls has given over 30 million pairs to those without shoes. They work hard to set up micro-enterprises, which allows those struggling in poverty to grow, develop, and sustain a small business. These micro-enterprises support many families worldwide. They also organize trips for volunteers and employees to deliver shoes directly to those in need, ‘hand-to-hand impact’, for disaster relief.
This past fall, the Interact Club of LaSalle spent the month of October collecting shoes around the community. Some of the Interactors took the campaign to schools such as Holy Cross, Prince Andrew, LaSalle Pubic and St. Thomas of Villanova. A collection box was also set up at the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex so that the LaSalle community could participate in the cause. A total of 2226 pairs of shoes were collected and delivered to Soles 4 Souls. Inspired by their success the Interactors wanted to keep supporting the cause.
This led them to initiative a second shoe drive with a goal of collecting 25,000 of shoes. The Interactors will reveal how many shoes they collected on March 15, National Shoe the World Day.
The Interact Club is expanding their reach by working with more schools, other Interact Clubs, local businesses and the broader Windsor-Essex community to collect more used shoes. The following organizations have set up collection boxes and are participating in collecting shoes:
· Art Splash, LaSalle,
· Enactus (School of Business) at the University of Windsor
· Interact Club of Walkerville Collegiate Institute
· Interact Club of General Amherst
· Sandwich Secondary School
· Tribe Gym, LaSalle
· Town of Tecumseh
· Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex
· Western Secondary School
The Interact Club of LaSalle is passionately asking for the community to clean out their closets and bring any used shoes of any size in and in any condition (shoes must not have any holes and the soles must not be falling off) to any of the participating locations mentioned,
“This is a win-win scenario” says Renee, a member of the Interact Club of LaSalle. “We often have too many shoes that are cluttering our homes which will eventually be thrown out and end up in landfills, creating other challenges. This way we can feel proud that these shoes are going to people who really need them.”
Shoes will be collected until March 8, 2019 and the total collected will be announced on March 15, National Shoe the World Day.
National Shoe the World Day is a day created to bring awareness, to everyone across the nation, of the incredible need to help those people around the world that do not have shoes to wear and then to take action in helping.
Each day, over 500 million children, teens and adults around the world do not have a pair of shoes to wear, and despite the terrain and the climate, they have to walk barefoot everywhere. It is a struggle which often results in illness and disease which in turn has many other negative life implications such as inability to attend school or work.
Let’s do our part. Donate your unwanted, unused and worn shoes to this important cause. Please help us spread the word.
For more information, please contact the following:
The Interact Club of LaSalle - interactclublasalle@gmail.com
