What are you going to do with your shoes?

My name is Audrey and I run cross-country and track and field.  We noticed how quickly we were growing out of our shoes, yet how little we had actually worn them. This is 'how' and 'why' ReUse Your Shoes began. We created a plan, then a logo with kids carrying and passing a shoe, rather than a baton.  We wrote letters to different athletic directors and set up permanent drop off locations one at a running store on Lake Avenue called Run with Us.  Out goal is to collect 5000 shoes.  I am proud to say we have collected and donated over 2000 shoes!!!

My name is Chloe, and I play club soccer. Being a part of ReUse Your Shoes has been a lot of fun and empowering for us. There are over 20 girls who meet every few weeks to plan new ways to collect shoes.  As of today, we have donated thousands of athletic shoes to various organizations.  We ask for all types of athletic shoes-running shoes, basketball shoes, cleats for soccer, and cleats for softball and baseball. We will make sure the shoes  are taken to people who don't have the proper size or proper shoes to play their sport. When we receive shoes, we disinfect them and separate them into different categories so we will know who to give them to. We have made a difference with something we are all passionate about-sports.

My name is Claire and I play volleyball. We will be working with local schools  to collect more shoes. If you have any types of athletic shoes that you or any members of your family don't want, please donate them to ReUse Your Shoes. We have learned that "collection" is important, but "distribution" is even more important, and we take our distribution very seriously. We will make sure the shoes we receive from you will go to people who really need them.

My name is Katie and I am a swimmer and I run track and cross country.  We started ReUse Your Shoes to help kids who don’t have any shoes and athletes that don’t have the proper training shoes. I hope that ReUse Your Shoes can change the lives of kids and young athletes.  Hopefully ReUse Your Shoe will get so big that people around the world will donate shoes and help kids and athletes without shoes.

My name is Julia and I play soccer. The word "got out" about ReUse Your Shoes and recently a high school coach in Los Angeles asked us for shoes for his athletes. His students were showing up to practice with inappropriate training shoes. This coach was very kind and was using his own money to buy shoes for his athletes, until he heard about us. We gave him a big bag of athletic shoes and hopefully he will never have to purchase any shoes from his own pocket again. We hope to continue ReUse Your Shoes in order to keep supplying this caring coach with shoes for his athletes, as well as for all the other young people in need. 

My name is Hayes and I play club softball. Our shoes have gone to places like Optimist, a local organization in Highland Park, CA that services foster families. We recently donated shoes to a school in Kenya with 800 students. Through the Giving Bank in South Pasadena, CA we have donated a lot of shoes to the homeless, and through Holy Family Parish, we have donated many shoes to Haiti, where people don't have any shoes at all. When we receive shoes that are not in good condition for training in sports, we can ship them to Haiti because the people receiving them are walking barefoot.

My name is Sofia and I play basketball. We have given shoes to the athletic director for Imperial Courts and Nickerson Gardens, which are two housing projects in Watts, CA. Many of our cleats have been shipped to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic because the kids there are passionate about playing baseball and softball. We also sent shoes to a programs sponsored by LAPD's Operation Project. Shoes are probably not a priority to their families. These kids are growing just as fast as we are, yet they don't have the means to frequently purchase shoes.