For seven consecutive years, the local Port Washington-based men’s shoemaker Allen Edmonds has spearheaded a national shoe-collection effort that benefits the global nonprofit Soles4Souls. The organization—which collects and distributes shoes and clothes via direct donations to people in need and provides qualified micro-enterprise programs to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities—has distributed more than 26 million pairs of shoes throughout 127 countries and all 50 U.S. states since its founding in January 2005. Soles4Souls hopes to eradicate extreme poverty by 2050.
To date, Allen Edmonds has donated more than 30,000 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls’ mission. “The partnership between Allen Edmonds and Soles4Souls is a very natural one that has strengthened and developed over the past seven years,” said Colin Hall, Allen Edmonds’ senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “Allen Edmonds is extremely proud to have the opportunity to work with Soles4Souls for yet another year in an effort to provide shoes to those in need in over 127 countries across the globe.”
Soles4Souls’ Brian Granfors, creative and communications director, and Pattie Graben, director of corporate development, shared that the nonprofit has provided Greater Milwaukee with more than 300 pairs of shoes and 200 coats in the past year. Soles4Souls partners with Milwaukee’s Stan’s Fit For Your Feet to provide the nonprofit homeless shelter Repairers of the Breach with shoes and coats to distribute during the winter and the organization has provided the Literacy Partners of Kewaunee County with more than 200 pairs of shoes annually for the past three years during back-to-school season.
This year’s “Wear Out Poverty” campaign runs through Thursday, March 31, and the public can participate by donating new or slightly worn men’s, women’s or kid’s shoes at any Allen Edmonds retail or outlet store location. In thanks for supporting the cause, donors will receive $40 off any pair of regular priced Goodyear Welted shoes at Allen Edmonds (no purchase is necessary to donate shoes for the initiative).
For more information about Soles4Souls, call 866-521-SHOE or visit soles4souls.org. “For every dollar donated we can provide one brand-new pair of shoes to an individual in need,” said Granfors. For more information about Allen Edmonds and area locations, call 262-284-7158 or visit allenedmonds.com/soles4souls.
