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Marilyn Orr, left, of Miami donates at the Soles4Souls charity drive at Seminole Casino Hollywood. |
By offering $10 in free play, the Seminole Casino Hollywood's Player’s Club staff was able to collect 6,214 “gently worn” shoes for people in need during April. The casino, located at 4150 North State Road 7, across the street from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, collected the shoes to donate to Soles4Shoes, who ships them to victims of natural disasters or to people living in extreme poverty.
“We were astounded by the public’s response,” said Robert Dearstine, Seminole Casino Hollywood director of marketing. He estimated the monetary value to be more than $90,000, given a low estimate of $15 per pair of mostly unused shoes. ”We did have to reject many pairs because they really have to be practically new shoes,” he explained.
It’s estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes in their closets. Every seven seconds, Soles4Souls gives away another pair of shoes to someone in need. The charity has earned glowing endorsements from Hollywood stars and professional athletes, but the people that truly make the non-profit organization effective are those who clean out their closets to personally drop off their ‘gently worn’ shoes at a participating location, said founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Wayne Elsey.
If you missed the free play for donated shoes effort at Seminole Casino Hollywood, you or your company can always donate by visiting the organization’s website at www.giveshoes.org.
Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away more than 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes--currently donating one pair every nine seconds. The shoes have been distributed to people in more than 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the U.S. For more information, visit www.giveshoes.org.
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