How to Donate Shoes Domestically and Abroad

If you want to donate your shoes domestically consider giving them to…

1.    Planet Aid, Inc. Planet Aid, Inc. collects shoes in the US from 19 states and attempts to resell them. (Check out the Planet Aid, Inc. website at www.planetaid.org to see if your state is one of the 19 states listed.) Not only do these shoes find new homes, but the proceeds from the sale are used to finance education, community development and HIV/AIDs programs in Asia and Africa.

2.    The Little Rock Roadrunners Club in Arkansas. Shoes collected by the Little Rock Roadrunners Club are donated to people in need in the Little Rock community. Adult shoes are used to provide footwear for the homeless population, and children’s shoes are given to children in need of proper footwear in the local schools. Search the web to see if your community has a runners club with a shoe donation program! (Or suggest that your local runners club start one!)

3.    Northern Cook County Shoe Recycling Program in Illinois. This recycling program collects athletic shoes and sends them to recycling plants where they are remade into athletic surfaces. Ask your local recycling program if there are any shoe recycling centers near you, or send your shoes in the mail to a recycling center that has room to take them.

If you want to donate your shoe internationally consider giving them to…

1.    One World Running. Previously known as “Shoes for Africa”, One World Running is a nonprofit organization based in Boulder, Colorado. It sends donated athletic shoes to African national athletic teams. To read more about the project, visit One World Running’s blog at oneworldrunning.blogspot.com.

2.    Shoe Recycle Program Team Barrios, Mexico. The Shoe Recycle Program collects donated shoes and gives them to underprivileged citizens in Mexico. The organization has no website, but you can find out more by writing to 16199 East 48th Avenue #2521, Denver, Colorado 80239.

3.    Hope Runs. Hope Runs is a non-profit NGO that operates in Kenya and Tanzania. The organization accepts donations of used and new running shoes. These shoes are given to AIDS orphans and other orphaned or abandoned children in Kenya and Tanzania who learn about personal health and social entrepreneurship through running. Hope Runs also accepts donations of other athletic equipment and is interested in forging connections with international running groups and marathoners. Visit www.hoperuns.org for more details about where and how to send your donations.

Source by roby john