Area volunteer has a lot of ‘sole’
Patti Piatt apparently can’t help herself. She has a soul for soles.
Although she hadn’t planned on coordinating another shoe drive so soon, Piatt received multiple inquiries – and donations – that she couldn’t say no.
“I must have a sign on my back or my forehead that’s only visible to others,” she chuckled.
So, through Aug. 31, Piatt once again is coordinating a shoe drive to benefit the local Faith in Action, a national nonprofit program that pairs volunteers with seniors or the disabled who need services, such as light housekeeping, shopping, transportation or visitation, through Funds2Orgs.
Piatt heard about Funds2Orgs, which is based in Orlando, Fla., while working at Washington Church of Christ on Allison Avenue, where she is a secretary.
Funds2Orgs is headed by Wayne Elsey, a former footwear executive and founder of Soles4Souls. Elsey uses recycled items to aid economies of developing countries by providing jobs while reducing consumer waste. Shoes that are collected are 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.
“It’s such a win-win situation that I’m surprised everybody isn’t doing it,” Piatt said. “You’re doing it as a fundraiser, but it costs you nothing.”
Last year, Piatt collected 14,179 pairs of shoes, far surpassing her goal of 7,500. This year, her goal is much more modest at 3,500. At the end of last week, she was about three-quarters of the way there.
It all started earlier this summer, Piatt said, when she received a “sign.”
“I received a call from someone who had helped me last year, asking if I was collecting again. I said, ‘I didn’t plan on it.’ Then she informs me that she has 10 large bags of shoes that she didn’t want to throw away.”
Piatt called her boss, the Faith in Action board of directors secured another storage unit, and Piatt was back in business. Members of the congregation at Washington Church of Christ have donated shoes, and a former roommate whom Piatt hadn’t seen in 47 years came from New Mexico to help settle her brother’s estate and donated 179 pairs of his shoes.
“It’s been so crazy again,” Piatt said. “It’s been crazy fun, though. I keep connecting with folks I have not seen in a long time. I took that as a sign I had to do this.”
In addition, since her fundraisers have been so successful, Piatt was asked to offer some tips to an area youth coach who was trying to collect 10,000 pounds of clothing to raise money for his team.
“As a way to pay it forward, I was hustling more for him,” said Piatt, noting that one of her friends donated 16 “huge” garbage bags of clothing for the coach’s fundraiser. Plenty of other “overflowing” bags of clothes also have found their way to her office.
“If he doesn’t make it, it’s not for a lack of trying,” Piatt said.
Shoe donations can be dropped off Monday, Wednesday or Friday at Washington Church of Christ. To make other arrangements, call Piatt at 724-345-3325.