Keep La. Beautiful Collects More than 28,000 Pairs of Shoes

Posted: Dec 16, 2011 10:34 AM by Melissa Canone

More than 28,000 pairs of shoes were collected during "Pair Share," a shoe recycling campaign created by Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB), the state's nonprofit organization dedicated to litter prevention, waste reduction, and community improvement. "Pair Share" was created to promote America Recycles Day throughout the state.

The shoe recycling campaign lasted three weeks, beginning on October 24 and ending on November 15 (America Recycles Day). With an original goal of collecting 5,000 pairs of shoes, KLB was stunned at the support its affiliate communities were able to harness and collected more than five times the original goal. Through their hard work, the 11 participating affiliates collected a total of 28,213 pairs of shoes. Participating affiliates included Keep Calcasieu Beautiful, Keep Natchitoches Beautiful, Keep St. John Beautiful, Keep DeRidder Beautiful, Keep Slidell Beautiful, Keep Lincoln Parish Beautiful, Keep Assumption Beautiful, Keep Monroe Beautiful, Keep Mandeville Beautiful, Keep West Baton Rouge Beautiful, and Junior Team Green of Southwest Louisiana.

"The effort our affiliates put into Pair Share is what helped to make the program such a success," Leigh Harris, Executive Director of KLB, said. "Collecting more than five times our original goal is a testament to the generosity of the people of Louisiana. We are delighted to both be helping those who need it and reducing the amount of shoes that could end up in a landfill."

Because of the unbelievable amount of shoes donated, KLB completely filled the 18-wheeler it had to hire to pick up the shoes at four different locations throughout the state in order to deliver to their partner organization, Soles4Souls.

Soles4Souls is a nonprofit organization that collects new shoes for victims of natural disasters and other crisis situations and used shoes to support micro-business efforts internationally to help eradicate poverty. Soles4Souls was selected by KLB, not only because of their fantastic mission, but because they provided assistance to Louisianans in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. KLB wanted to support an organization that helped so many in our state.

For more information Keep Louisiana Beautiful, please contact Leigh Harris at (225) 752-7446 or email lharris@keeplouisianabeautiful.org. For more information about Soles4Souls, please visit www.soles4souls.com or email Elizabeth Kirk at elizabethk@Soles4Souls.org.

About Keep Louisiana Beautiful
Keep Louisiana Beautiful is a volunteer-based service organization dedicated to a healthy and litter free Louisiana. Through a network of statewide affiliates, KLB promotes its mission to educate Louisianans on the ecological and economic effects of littering.