Attention anyone with a closet: Those shoes you no longer want are desperately needed to fight the human tragedy of global poverty. That’s the message being delivered by Winter Lytle, Dodgen Middle School 8th grader who has launched a drive to collect 1,000 pairs of shoes to help the poor. Used and new shoes can be dropped off at several community locations from now through Saturday, April 2:

  • D-BAT Marietta Baseball & Softball Academy located at 1666 Roswell Road in Marietta
  • Impulse Salon located at 255 Village Parkway, NE #160, in Marietta

Shoes will also be collected during the same time frame from student donations at Dodgen Middle School through tomorrow, April 1.

Winter is training her brother, a 6th grader at Dodgen, as her intern to carry on the tradition in 2017 when she takes her shoe drive to Pope High School. Shoes will be delivered to Soles4Souls, an international anti-poverty organization that monetizes used shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs and fund direct relief efforts, including distribution of new shoes and clothing. Founded in 2006, the organization has distributed more than 26 million pairs of shoes in 127 countries.

“At Dodgen Middle School, we encourage our students to be contributing members of a global society,” said Dr. Loralee Hill, principal of Dodgen Middle School. “Supporting Winter’s shoe drive for Soles4Souls is a great example of how our students can contribute toward global change, and we are proud to be part of the community supporting Soles4Souls’ anti-poverty mission.”

Soles4Souls – which holds the highest rating from nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator — will convert every used pair of shoes collected from thecommunity into a value-added social currency to achieve positive change, both humanitarian and economic. Most of the reusable shoes will be distributed to microenterprise programs that create jobs in Haiti and other poor nations. The resulting revenue will help fund the free distribution of new shoes in the U.S. and overseas.  Among its relief programs, the organization has distributed over 200,000 new pairs of shoes to help Philippine victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

The connection between poverty and shoes is well documented. The World Bank estimates that approximately 400 million children worldwide – more than the entire U.S. population – live in pronounced poverty. Millions of these children will grow up never having had a pair of shoes, resulting in significant ramifications for their health and well-being. Lacking proper footwear, countless children will not be able or permitted to attend school. And tens of millions of these poverty-stricken, barefoot boys and girls will be infected with soil-transmitted parasitic diseases like hookworm, causing lasting suffering and lifelong debilitation.

“So many of us in East Cobb are fortunate to have plenty. Most people with a closet have shoes they don’t wear, or an old pair that will just end up in a landfill,” said Winter Lytle. “Give your used shoes to us, and know that you are taking a step to making the world a better place for everyone.”

Do you know other students in East Cobb who are working hard to make a difference and give back? Please share their name and cause below!