Final count is 14,179
Once the story was published in the Observer-Reporter, Patti Piatt was constantly asked one question: “How will we know if you’ve made your goal?”
Well, here it is. The final count was 14,179 used pairs of shoes.
The amount far surpasses the goal – and Piatt’s hopeful expectations – of 7,500 that Faith in Action needed to receive $3,000 from Funds2Orgs, an organization that uses recycled items to aid economies of developing countries by providing jobs while reducing consumer waste.
“It was crazy and fun,” said Piatt, a volunteer with Faith in Action who coordinated the effort to gather the shoes. “Many times when I arrived at my office, there were shoes sitting outside the building.”
Shoes arrived from several different states, she said, with “lovely stories” attached to the donations. The drive even helped Piatt reconnect with two friends she hadn’t seen in nearly 30 years.
“One saw the O-R article and called me and said, ‘I wondered what happened to you.’ She brought shoes, and we had lunch and did some catching up,” Piatt said. “The other brought shoes, and we had a nice visit. The response was so wonderful.”
Faith in Action is a national nonprofit program that pairs volunteers with seniors or the disabled who need services, such as light housekeeping, shopping, transportation or visitation.
About 200 volunteers serve the same number of clients in the local Faith in Action, which is headquartered at TRIPIL Services, 69 E. Beau St., Washington. TRIPIL provides office space and Internet and telephone service to Faith in Action.
However, its steering committee challenged Faith in Action to raise 100 percent of its operating cost, so the money raised from the shoe collection is going toward those expenses.
The shoes that were collected were taken to a hub, then sold to vendors who clean and repair the shoes and resell them, creating a business that helps lift families out of extreme poverty.
“I’m just really impressed with the whole concept,” Piatt told the O-R midway through the collection drive, calling it a “win-win” for everyone involved.