Shoes For Souls
A Non-profit Charity organized by Kay Trotman
During my last African Safari (Nov. 2006) while in Zambia, I saw a little boy climbing some rocks with banana leaves tied with vines, wrapped on his feet. I asked him if he had shoes. I was surprised he understood me, but he answered back in broken English "no, but my sister does" as he beamed, as if so proud that she did. I asked him where his mother was and he pointed to the stalls across the way. I walked over to look at her wares and bought a small purse and mirror and gave her an extra $20 USD. She returned it and pointed to the price tag, too much. She did not understand English so I asked our guide to tell her it was for shoes for her son. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and bowed her head in gratefulness. I will never forget that moment, and thus the idea of Shoes For Souls was born.
My
vision for shoes for souls was to be able to help some of the
unfortunate
children and adults in Africa
to at least be
able to have shoes. I met someone on my trip who currently is
helping
people in Africa
by providing them with
various items that are
donated to a non-profit tax-exempt organization, WildiZe Foundation,
which she
runs.
After talking with her and telling her of my Shoes For Souls plans she
and I
agreed my idea was feasible and as an arm of her organization Shoes For
Souls
was an excellent way to get the shoes I hoped to collect to the right
people
and places in Africa. I returned home.
I
sent emails to a few friends and told others by phone, and in person,
of my
Shoes For Souls program. All donated shoes are to be sent to Wildize
and stored
there in her facilities until her next trip to Africa. Wildize will
handle the
distribution of shoes
to the organization with the greatest need.
I ask that any of you that have extra, unwanted, wrong size or other
shoes that
you wish to donate to Shoes For Souls please do so. The shoes
can be any
size, for babies, children, teens, or adults. Very high heels, however,
cannot
be accepted. Please only donate shoes that are wearable and in good
condition.
Shoes that have holes in them or that are otherwise damaged
so they
cannot be worn immediately when received will not be accepted nor
shipped to
the needy in Africa.
Any shoes in need
of repairs cannot be accepted, as the people receiving them have no
money for
repairing shoes.
You may send your donation of shoes directly to Wildize®
Foundation which is
the organization that
will actually take the shoes to Africa.
When you send your donations (shoes only) to Wildize, in
Colorado,
please indicate on your package,
"Shoes For Souls".
You can find out more about Wildize by clicking the menu link.
Thank you for any donation of shoes you are able to give.
Late Note: Dec. 12, 2006
I
have already received hundreds of pairs of shoes just from
friends and
some of those people they told of Shoes For Souls. Amazingly, I
received a
large box of new shoes ordered new over the Internet from someone in
Baghdad raq
and sent to me as her donation to the program. I have also received
boxes of
shoes from several other states from others, none of whom I know. At
this rate
I might have to hire someone part-time to organize and box the shoes
for
intermediate shipment to Colorado.
In fact now that there are hundreds of pounds of shoes we really need
to see if
we can find a company that can provide the shipping, either free, or at
a
significantly reduced rate. Since WildiZe® Foundation is a
tax-exempt
organization it will be a much-appreciated donation of services to a
well
worthwhile cause.
Note: Feb. 7, 2007
There have been many more shoe contributions. Please continue to donate shoes.
Thank you!
Kay