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October 4, 2008

ABAC on the Square sponsors project to collect shoes

Staff Reports

MOULTRIE — To celebrate ABAC on the Square’s 10th birthday and the 100th birthday of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, ABAC on the Square is sponsoring a service project, Soles4Souls.

Soles4Souls has a simple concept: Get shoes, and then give them away. The ABAC on the Square Leadership Society is sponsoring this drive and hopes to involve the entire community in reaching out to victims of disaster and poverty at home and abroad.

ABAC on the Square Director Kay Powell said that in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, Wayne Elsey, the founder and CEO of Soles4Souls Inc., felt compelled to do something.

“Like many of us, he did not know what to do,” Powell said.

Elsey was home one night watching TV, and he saw a picture of a single shoe washing up on the beach. That triggered a few calls to some other executives in the footwear industry, and the subsequent donation of a quarter of a million shoes to victims in the devastated countries.

A year later when Hurricane Katrina hit, Elsey called the same group of friends, and they sent three-quarters of a million shoes down to the Gulf Coast communities affected by the hurricane. In all honesty, he admits that he did not expect such an immediate and successful turnout. This left him wondering, why not start a non-profit and do this all the time?

One year later, Soles4Souls was formally created. The concept has been that simple, to change the world, “one pair at a time.”

Nashville-based Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of footwear to aid the hurting worldwide. Soles4Souls has donated more than three 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” shoes.

Powell said the Soles4Souls drive will take place from Oct. 20 to 31. Shoes can be dropped at ABAC on the Square Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day or placed in collection boxes around the county. Shoes should be held together with a rubber band or by tying the laces together.

A send-off celebration will take place at ABAC on the Square Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. The shoes will be taken to the national distribution center in Roanoke, Ala., for worldwide distribution.

For more information, contact ABAC on the Square at (229) 891-7235.

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