About 7,500 pairs of shoes were collected and shipped by local shoe retailer, When the Shoe Fits, a partner with Soles4Souls non-profit. / Photo by Ossie Bladine

It’s impossible to ignore the headlines concerning Haiti. Most mornings I go for a jog on my treadmill and watch the early news. As of late, I’ve skipped the news and opted to blare my iPod instead because at the end of any workout, I’m a blubbering mess. With devastation so prolific, it’s hard to know how to help.

Courtney Bright, a Washougal High School senior and ASB secretary, was so moved by the tragedy she wanted a way to engage her classmates in the cause.

“I knew we had to do something,” said Bright. “But what?”

That’s when the senior stumbled upon an online post titled “Project Haiti” from Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls is a non-profit organization that donates new and gently used shoes to people in need throughout the world. The organization was originally founded as a response to the Asian Tsunami, and to date it has donated over 7 million pairs of shoes in 125 countries. Not only are individual shoe donations welcome through the program, but large retailers also donate overstock of products that haven’t sold.

Local shoe retailer, When the Shoe Fits, partnered with Soles4Souls a little over a year ago. Alan and Amy O’Hara, who own When the Shoe Fits, launched their two Vancouver locations in September of 2004. They realized the area was lacking a pedorthic center (a store that custom fits shoes and works with the medical community to fit inserts and orthotics). The company sells high quality comfort shoes and has four certified pedorthists on staff.

As business grew, O’Hara noticed that his customers would ask him to get rid of old shoes when purchasing new pairs. He didn’t want to throw out the old shoes, so when he discovered Soles4Souls at a national tradeshow, he knew he’d found a solution.

“It’s the perfect partnership for an independent retailer (like myself) to give new life to worn shoes,” says O’Hara.

It’s an organization that O’Hara believes is gaining strength and steam. Maybe in the case of “Project Haiti” a little too much steam. When the Shoe Fits alerted its customers about the need for shoes for victims of the earthquake in Haiti on their website and was inundated with help. They received over 2,200 pairs in less than two weeks with donations still rolling in as this feature is headed to press. The donations have come from all avenues including the Washougal student body that Courtney Bright rallied. Once Bright learned about the shoe drive, she immediately asked her fellow ASB members to get involved. They plastered posters throughout campus, made daily announcements, and hosted a miracle minute where students were asked to donate funds that would be used to purchase shoes at the Goodwill. The response was overwhelming. Barrels in the common area and by the front office were overflowing with shoe donations, and Bright anticipated that they would easily meet their goal of 250 pairs.

O’Hara has received calls from customers ready to bring truckloads of shoes. He’s now struggling with the logistics of housing the donations as well as shipping. It costs approximately one dollar per pair to ship the donations to a Soles4Souls warehouse in Nevada, where the shoes are sorted by gender, size, and style. While he remained hopeful that a corporation might help offset the cost of shipping, he never entertained the idea of asking his patrons to cover the cost of shipping.
“We love what we’re doing here; the response to the situation in Haiti is amazing,” O’Hara said.

Moving forward, O’Hara is committed to working with Soles4Souls to help facilitate distribution of shoes closer to home. With record numbers of unemployment and continuing job losses throughout the area, he’d like to ensure that donations also make it into homes and shelters in Vancouver.

“We want to have more of a local focus and are hoping to find partners in Clark County. Not only would that help eliminate the cost of shipping, but we know there are so many people in need right here. We want shoes for our community members too.”
When the Shoe Fits has two retail locations in Salmon Creek and Fisher’s Landing. They accept donations of gently used shoes throughout the year at both locations. Soles4Souls defines “gently used” as any pair of shoes you’d still wear — free of holes, mud, and with intact laces and soles. All types of shoes — athletic, dress, sandals and boots, are welcome. For more information, visit When the Shoe Fits at www.whentheshoefits.com.

Kate Dyer-Seeler is a mom, a writer, a coffee junkie and avid reader. Her column appears every other issue in The Voice.