Soles4Souls Inc., the international shoe charity, is working with Meryl Starr, the popular Organization and Motivation Expert, to challenge people during a nationwide Spring Cleaning program aimed at collecting shoes from American closets. Through May 31, 2009 Meryl and Soles4Souls will be sponsoring a series of events to help people reorganize, reuse and recycle the clutter in their lives. the program is specifically aimed at collecting the new and 'gently worn' footwear in our closets and will benefit people in need around the world.
"One of the most cluttered and disorganized areas in our homes is the closet," said Starr. "In my line of work I have seen it all, and unworn shoes make up an enormous part of the clutter. Soles4Souls provides fantastic ways to reorganize your life while offering a great service to people in need at the same time," she said.
"Meryl is a dynamic motivator with simple plan of action that produces results," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "By following her lead, we can recycle our shoes and put them on the feet of people who will treasure them for years to come rather than tossing them into our landfills to slowly disintegrate," he said.
Footwear makes up a significant portion of the refuse in our landfills, and Soles4Souls and Meryl are working hard to change the habits of Americans. "There is no reason you shouldn't donate your unwanted shoes to Soles4Souls through their network of participating retailers," said Starr. "In most cases, you can earn a discount on a new pair of shoes -- so you can feel great about donating five pairs while buying one new pair to replace them," she said.
Soles4Souls is currently partnering with thousands of footwear retailers across North America on a variety of shoe drive events, and a full list of events and partners can be found at www.giveshoes.org.
Soles4Souls estimates that 300 million pairs of shoes were thrown away last year, while the same number of children around the world have never owned a pair of shoes. "Shoes may be a simple thing to most people," said Elsey, "but when we put a new pair of shoes on a person’s feet we have seen reactions of pure joy that comes from the gift of shoes,” he said.
About Meryl Starr
Meryl is the best-selling author of "The Home Organizing Workbook" and "The Personal Organizing Workbook" and is known as one of the nation's top Organizers and Motivational Coaches. She won a 2008 Telly Award and is the creator of a new TV Show, “Let’s Make a Change with Meryl Starr.”
Meryl has appeared on many TV shows and in dozens of magazines, including Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, In Style and Women’s Day. Learn more about her work at www.merylstarr.com, and to learn more about her TV Show, visit http://www.merylstarr.com/indextv.htm.
About Soles4Souls
Nashville-based Soles4Souls™ facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Soles4Souls has distributed more than 4.3 million pairs (currently donating one pair every 17 seconds) to people in over 125 countries, including Honduras, Uganda, Romania, and the United States. The charity has been featured recently in Runner's World and the Green Guide by National Geographic. It has also appeared on CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.
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