Soles4Souls Inc. has earned glowing endorsements from Hollywood stars and professional athletes, but the people that truly make this non-profit organization effective are those who clean out their closets to personally drop off their “gently worn” shoes at a participating location such as Blue Hills.

For a limited time, Soles4Souls and Blue Hills will be collecting gently worn footwear and/or donations to ship the shoes to a person in need, whether they are victims of a natural disaster or living in extreme poverty. It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes lying in their closets. This charity can use each and every one of these pairs to make a tangible difference in someone's life.

“I happened to see this on the news,” said Blue Hills’ boys’ basketball coach and lead teacher in the Metal Fabrication and Joining Technologies program, Mr. Brian Gearty. “We also have been involved with coat drives and I thought that this is something different and maybe this could be something that the kids would love to get involved with.”

Gearty continued, “Last year we raised some money for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. We have several players in the basketball program with family in Haiti and many of them understand what a drive like this could do for people like those in Haiti. All of the players in the program are going to be involved in this charitable event. The freshman [basketball] team will be selling candy to help pay for the cost to ship the shoes collected. The junior varsity and varsity will be involved in the collections and the shipping of the shoes collected. This year the boys’ basketball team is going to learn how to help others. I am really excited about the possibilities of this drive. I think that this is going to be a Grand Slam.”

“We can use the shoes taking up space in your closet to change the world one pair at a time,” said Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Mr. Wayne Elsey. “We need our partners in the Blue Hills Regional
School District to ‘step up’ and get behind our call for action. It’s one of the most simple yet profound gifts you can make, because it will greatly improve someone’s life in the most difficult of times,” he said.

Please drop off your shoes to Blue Hills Regional Technical School, 800 Randolph St., Canton.

For more information please contact: bgearty@bluehills.org or Elizabeth Kirk, Soles4Souls, 615-391-5723, elizabethk@giveshoes.org.

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

About Soles4Souls®

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and people’s closets. 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 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every nine 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 the cause. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.