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Shoes shed for good cause

November 14, 2009 12:37 am

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Aiden Schwartz swung her feet back and forth enthusiastically as she settled into her seat.

Her dad walked past her in the sanctuary at Beth Sholom Temple.

"It's feet day, Daddy!" the young girl exclaimed.

Children's sneakers, Mary Janes and boots lined the aisles of the Stafford County synagogue's sanctuary on Sunday morning. It was time to start the religious school, and most students walked in barefoot.

Throughout the opening exercises, the children sang and prayed without shoes. When they learned they'd attend Sunday classes sans footwear, some cheered. Others were a bit more squeamish.

Leaders asked the children to think about other kids. Those who don't ever get to wear shoes. Who walk to school barefoot. Who go outside in the cold. Who get infections and illnesses.

And the children at Beth Sholom could help those children worldwide with bare feet.

The religious school's annual fundraiser would not just raise money for scholarships and supplies. It would also buy shoes through a nonprofit called Soles4Souls.

The Nashville-based organization began in 2004, when shoe company executive Wayne Elsey watched news foot-age of the tsunami in Asia. He saw a single shoe on the shore.

Elsey, a 1983 graduate of Stafford High School, made calls and got 25,000 shoes donated to victims of the tsunami. He saw a similar need a year later during Hurricane Katrina. And after getting more than 1 million donated shoes, Elsey felt compelled to keep going.

A year later he started Soles4Souls, and the nonprofit has given away more than 5 million pairs of shoes to needy residents of more than 125 countries.

The group raises money to buy shoes for people in need, partnering with school groups and congregations. It also accepts gently used shoes.

Contacts from the shoe industry and a growing list of celebrities have embraced Elsey's cause.

And so have individuals and groups throughout the world-- like the area's Jewish school, which chose to raise money for new footwear instead of collecting used shoes.

Beth Sholom Temple Religious School leaders found the nonprofit while searching for a fund-raiser with meaning.

Last year, the students sold chocolates to support the school. But this year, Principal Laura Larson hoped to mix money with the Jewish values of tikkun olam, healing the world, and tzedekah, justice or charity.

"We wanted to benefit our religious school but also benefit those in need," Larson said.

Fundraising chairwoman Jessica Bloomfield liked the concept. And she came up with a plan in an unlikely place: her mother's closet.

Bloomfield was cleaning out the closet after her mother died four months ago, and wondered what to do with the 32 pairs of shoes she discovered.

Her mother loved shoes and had pairs to match outfits, for special occasions, for comfort.

Bloomfield searched for a place to take the shoes and discovered Soles4Souls.

"Americans buy shoes for fashion, for comfort, for frivolity," she said. "But in most of the rest of the world, they don't even have one pair, and it's a health issue. These are the people who need shoes the most."

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com