The NAPO Challenge is a world-wide program developed between Soles4Souls and NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) members to encourage their communities and clients to clean out their closets and donate gently worn footwear for a good cause.
Why are shoes important?
Footwear is a first step in helping people in impoverished areas live healthy, productive lives. Footwear can help eliminate the spreading of diseases through the foot as well as help children obtain an education – as many schools have footwear requirements to attend.
If you have a pair or two you would like to donate, send a quick note to a professional organizer in your area (find one here) and they will arrange a time to swing by and pick your donation up. This is a quick, easy, humanitarian, earth-friendly way to get rid of excess stuff. Take advantage! (Note: All shoes must be picked up by January 10th, 2012 to be sure they make it to their destination in time for shipment.)
What types of shoes do you accept?
Soles4Souls accepts all types of shoes: athletic, running, dress, sandals, pumps, heels, work boots, cleats, dance, flip flops, just as long as they are new or gently worn. Please send the shoes as they are. We will accept any and all shoes, with the exception of muddy and moldy ones. When shoes are cleaned improperly, mold can grow and spread to other shoes, and ultimately prevent us from distributing them.
Pumps and heels?
Yes! We accept all types of shoes. The heels can go to prom-a-thons, woman out of a job, woman who lost everything due to some type of natural disaster, or women’s shelters just to name a couple of uses.
Should I tie the pairs?
Yes. Each pair needs to be bound together either by its shoelaces or with a rubber band prior to turning them in.
Will you take soles with holes?
Yes! Shoes that cannot be worn any longer will be sent for recycling.
Will you take singles?
Yes! Singles will be sent for recycling or given to amputees.
Should I try to clean them?
No. Please send the shoes as they are. We will accept any and all shoes, with the exception of muddy and moldy ones. When shoes are cleaned improperly, mold can grow and spread to other shoes, and ultimately prevent us from distributing them.
How do you determine where the shoes will be distributed that I donate to Soles4Souls?
It is a very common sense strategy. Once donated shoes arrive into our facility the shoes are sorted by style, quality, and season. Naturally, our warm and cold climate shoes are distributed in regions that are very appropriate for those types of shoes.
What do you do with shoes that are not wearable?
The small percentage of shoes that we receive that cannot be utilized will be recycled.
What do you do with the shoes you receive?
All shoes are processed and graded either by our staff in Wadley, Alabama or by Village Northwest Unlimited, a nonprofit training facility for people with disabilities located in Sheldon, Iowa. New and high grade used shoes are immediately earmarked for distribution in the United States or abroad. Lower grade used shoes are sorted and packed for distribution, and some are provided to microenterprise programs in developing countries such as Haiti, Tanzania, and Honduras. The microenterprise participants clean and recondition the shoes to sell locally. Thus, the microenterprise programs provide both a rare employment opportunity to impoverished people who would like to start their own shoe businesses, but lack the capital to do so, and an affordable source of shoes for the impoverished local population. Shoes in very poor condition are unfit for the microenterprise programs and are sent to recyclers in Pakistan who salvage the usable materials from the shoes. Funds raised by Soles4Souls from the microenterprise and recycling programs are used to sustain its programs, such as covering the processing costs incurred at the Wadley and Sheldon facilities and paying for transporting shoes to crisis areas for humanitarian relief.
Where can I learn more?
Soles4Souls is a non-profit that “collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty.” (www.Soles4Souls.org) All donations are tax deductable.
Is there a tax deduction form with a Soles4Souls logo I can receive?
Yes, please visit http://www.soles4souls.org/get_involved/tax_receipt.html
to get a tax receipt.
To learn more about the great work Soles4Souls does, please visit http://www.soles4souls.org.
