Today’s post is from Soles4Souls’ CEO, Buddy Teaster: For the last few months, my family has been engaged in a shoe drive. My oldest daughter is leading the effort with help from her sister, mother, extended family and friends. So far she’s collected about 3700 pairs of shoes and $3000 in donations. That’s all good. But…
First, I want to say thanks for sticking with us when hosting your own shoe drive. Ours has been going on since October and it’s a lot of work. Maybe you’re better organized than we are but it seems like there are always shoes in our living room, porch or car. And I know they’re in our garage waiting for me to take them to the local warehouse (thanks OIG!). The trash bags and rubber bands are tucked here and there. The driving around to pick up boxes full of shoes from the various businesses around the Dallas area has kept my wife busier than usual. We’ve even asked permission to collect shoes at the school carpool line. It’s a lot of work!
It’s also really satisfying to bag up and drop off 300 pairs of shoes at a time. It’s a great feeling to see the garage floor after a month or so. It made me happy to listen to my daughter talk with her four friends while they sorted and banded shoes. I was very proud of watching my youngest daughter lead her class in gathering up and bagging shoes. It’s rewarding work!
Secondly, however, I’m reminded of the saying, “you should eat your own dog food.” Somehow that usually means that what you think is happening isn’t what is actually happening. The shoe collection process has been enlightening for me when it comes to what we ask of our amazing shoe drive leaders. As we continue to look at how we can improve the experience for anyone who takes on the critical job of collecting shoes, it’s not just an academic question for me. My family has some VERY strong opinions that they’ve shared with me as the CEO and definitely not as their father or husband!
I’m hope that in the coming months you’ll start to see some ways we plan to make the collection process easier and more manageable. Our team is fine-tuning everything from promotion to delivery and I assure you they’ve already laid out a few great and efficient ideas! In many ways, shoe collections are the lifeblood of Soles4Souls and the work we do in fighting poverty. Making that a great experience is good for everyone. Stay tuned for more shoe drives updates! And if you want to start hosting your own, you can start right HERE.
For now, however, it’s time to take another load to the warehouse…
