Soles4Souls(TM) Inc., the Shoe Charity, Opens New Warehouse in Tennessee
by Staff
June 5, 2008
NASHVILLE, (christiansunite.com) -- Soles4Souls Inc., the international charity dedicated to providing free footwear to those in desperate need, announced today that it has opened another warehouse in Old Hickory, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville), to give more options to its supporters on where to send shoe donations."As our charity expands, we need to give our supporters more options to keep the shipping costs down," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls Inc. "Our new warehouse in Old Hickory, Tennessee, is the fourth Soles4Souls facility in the United States, and will serve donors in the Central and Upper Midwest regions of the country," he said.
Shoes donated to Soles4Souls are sorted, cleaned, and packaged in the warehouses before being shrinkwrapped and loaded onto pallets. From there, the shoes are sent to partner organizations in the United States and in over 60 countries around the world to help put shoes on the feet of needy people. The shoe charity, based in Nashville, has donated more than 3.2 million pairs of shoes to victims of natural disasters and those living in abject poverty since its inception in October 2006.
Soles4Souls also recently launched a new website to simplify its message and help draw more traffic that explains the charity's programs. "The website is a vital information tool and we wanted to clearly communicate our mission through videos, personalized stories, rich images and easy opportunities for everyone to get directly involved," said Elsey. "We have created an easy-to-use Participation Location tool that shows all the local drop-off points where our web visitors can go to donate their shoes," he said.
The Participation Location program works very well for retailers, explained Elsey, as stores who are participating benefit from the increased walk-in traffic and greater visibility in their community as a partner in charitable causes. Retailers interested in signing up for the program can find the sign-up forms on the charity's website, at www.giveshoes.org.
About Soles4Souls
Nashville-based Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of footwear, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Soles4Souls has donated more than 3 million pairs of shoes since its inception (one pair of shoes every 28 seconds). The charity was recently featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Shoe companies, retailers, and individuals can donate both new and "gently worn" footwear. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. For more information about Soles4Souls, please call (866) 521-SHOE, or visit www.giveshoes.org.
