Lisa Knox, MPH, Ambulatory Care Transitions Coordination Supervisor for Parkview Population Health organized a shoe drive within her department this week for Changing Footprints. Each of the 25 members of her team were asked to bring in their used shoes on Tuesday Nov. 28th. A representative from Changing Footprints was on hand to collect the donations and to personally thank each donating member. It only took 30 minutes to receive 177 pairs of shoes.
Changing Footprints will take those shoes, pair them, and sort them into the 42 categories, such as male/female, sandals, etc. They will then place them into banana boxes with a label. Social service agencies all over Northern Indiana request these shoes for the poor and homeless within their area. No one is ever charged for the shoes. Changing Footprints is an entirely volunteer organization, with no paid staff. To date over 22,000 pairs of shoes have been collected and distributed, with at least 80% of them staying in Northern Indiana. The rest were sent to wildfire and flood disaster areas in America.
The website changingfootprints.org under “shoe drops” lists the location of all donation bins in Allen County. Every YMCA and most of the public libraries have one, as well as all Indiana Physical Therapy and Steppin’ Up Physical Therapy locations. We encourage all other Parkview and Lutheran hospital departments to do what Lisa Knox has done and hold a shoe drive. Your staff simply drops off their donations when they come in to work on the designated day. Changing Footprints will be there to take away the donations. Every pair of shoes donated helps one person live a better life. Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
