Old Shoes

Okay, I realize I am going bloggy with two posts in one day, but an email I received today from Tom's shoes ignited an idea I had a few days ago.



I recently started playing competitive tennis again. In order to keep up with the other 4.0-ers at Lifetime I needed real tennis shoes. My year and a half old running shoes were downright embarrassing among the tennis clubbers not to mention beginning to fray at the seams...and well...smelly.



So, off I went to the store to purchase some brand spankin' new tennis kicks and a thought crossed my mind, what should I do with my old running shoes? What do I always do with my old shoes? I can't bear to throw them away so I hang onto them in hopes they will come in handy for a mission trip or painting project soon. In my parents' basement is a box of old athletic shoes from my years of tennis, basketball, softball, and running. There are probably ten pairs!! Just sitting. Collecting dust. They still have a good foundation to them, but not quite enough for competition.



Now, I'm just one person and I have ten pairs. What if more people gathered their slightly used, but not-suitable-for-athletics-anymore shoes and donated them? Jeez Louise! That could be a lot of shoes!



I spent a little over a week in Africa last Spring and everyone runs around barefoot. No, not because they love the feel of the grass on their toes. They don't have any shoes! We brought as many flip-flops as we could and still we would receive many inquiries about more shoes. I never knew how devastating lack of shoes could be. Watch the video below for some alarming news on what living without shoes does to people in Ethiopia.



So, my dream is to start an organization that collects the slightly used athletic shoes that really are still in good shape and send them to countries where they would be utilized in amazing ways. I might have to invest in some Odor-Eaters first, at least for mine. :)

So, who's with me? Got any old athletic shoes? I have no idea how to get this thing started, but if there's anyone out there like me (pseudo-athletes with a tendency to save old shoes), we could have a ton of shoes on our hands. What if we could somehow get other athletes involved? Hmmmm...

Oh, and if you are thinking of Christmas presents for peeps, may I suggest a pair of Tom's? :)