Local Charity Asks Communities For New or Used Athletic Shoes

Amy Nelson wants every youth to play sports. Married with five kids, she's struggled affording sports equipment and other fees related to organized recreation activities.

She also knows that kids quickly grow out of their shoe gear.

That's why the Lakewood Human Services Advisory Board member and Tacoma resident formed a charity organization called Soles4Christ. The soon-to-be non profit works in collaboration with other charitable groups like , Caring for Kids and local city parks & recreational programs in Lakewood, University Place, Fircrest and Tacoma to provide new and slightly worn athletic cleats to kids in need, according to its web site.

From football gear to soccer cleats, Nelson was tired of hearing 'I can't afford it.'

"We primarily focus on under-privileged communities within Pierce County," Nelson said.

Nelson launched charity organization in September of 2010. She put off her work because of a newborn baby but has since returned. She's stockpiling new athletic shoes along with regular shoes in her Tacoma garage while urging residents in the South Sound to donate shoes they aren't wearing to so she can recycle them and redistribute them back to disadvantaged youths within South Sound communities, schools and non profit agencies.

While still in the early stages of growing, her goal in nine months is to begin distributing the shoes to after school programs in Tacoma and surrounding areas like Lakewood. She's begun ncoordinating with Ala Talo, founder of Hearts for Kids at Stafford Elementary, to begin supporting sports programs.

"I want no kids to be left out of activities because of a lack of financial resources," Nelson said.

Learning what it takes

Nelson is learning what it takes to be a shoe-giving organization. She's recently been partnering with Soles4Soles, a different charity group that receives donations from various outside sources to help people living in disaster areas or third-world countries who desperately need footwear.

The University Place Crime Stoppers group donated more than a thousand shoes and the Puyallup School District gave about 6,000 pairs, according to Melanie Warren's goal is hoping to have all 20,000 pairs of shoes boxed up and ready to be shipped to Tennessee for global distribution by the end of the week.

Nelson said helping Soles4Souls has helped her market her non profit and understand what's involved.

Soles4Souls receives large donations from footwear companies, retailers, churches, nonprofit ministries, civic groups, schools, and individuals and saw that this could become a full time organization. That's why Soles4Souls was created – to facilitate the donations from these groups to the people who desperately need footwear.

Contact Nelson at anelson@soles4christ.com if you would like to donate athletic or regular shoes to her organization.