charity

Miami traffic crippled by “lost shoes” - charity helps

US Charity Soles4Souls, involved in providing footwear for those in need, said it would collect the several thousands of shoes that mysteriously “appeared” on a Miami highway on Friday morning, causing a severe traffic chaos. The charity will transport the shoes to Haiti and give them to the needy.

Soles4Souls charity donates footwear to Haiti

The shoes were dumped on the Palmetto highway, and they were reported to the local police shortly before 8am, during rush hour. According to the Florida Highway Petrol, they include several work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals, even inline skates. All of them appear to be used, and most of the shoes are tied together in pairs. The traffic had to be disrupted for hours due to the surprising hindrance, and although the police managed to clear one lane relatively quickly, delays serious delays were reported throughout the day until all of the shoes were removed from the location.

Lt. Pat Santangelo of the Florida Highway Petrol said it was unclear where the shoes had come from. No signs of a crash were found, and no stopping truck was reported.
Soles4Souls Charity contacted the Florida Police offering immediate action, after Lt. Pat Santangelo told journalists they were looking for a charity to give the shoes to. “These shoes are abandoned property and we’re happy that Soles4Souls can make good use out them,” Santangelo was quoted as saying.
Soles4Souls CEO Wayne Elsey dubbed the sight of the several thousand shoes a a stark reminder of how many shoes wasted across the US. “Too many perfectly good shoes are thrown away each year, and it’s a shame,” he said, adding that “Soles4Souls is dedicated to keeping usable footwear out of our landfills and putting them on the feet of needy people around the world.”
Soles4Souls was founded by Wayne Elsey after the 2004 tsunami hit Southeast Asia. According to the founder the idea of providing new or gently used shoes for the needy was triggered by a footage of the tsunami’s aftermath, showing a single pair of shoes washing the shores of the ocean. After a few calls to industry top-hats, Soles4Souls managed to donate a quarter of a million shoes to victims in the devastated countries.
It has, since then, distributed some 3.9 million pairs of shoes worldwide, with the help of shoe companies, retailers and individuals. Elsey estimates that over 300 Million people around the world don’t own a pair of shoes.
His charity’s motto is: Changing the World One Pair at a Time.

Tags: footwear, haiti, miami, shoe, soles4souls