Soles4Souls, the Shoe Charity, Partnered with Shoe Mill for "Barefoot Friday" on June 5, 2009

PORTLAND, OR and NASHVILLE, TN -- Soles4Souls Inc., the international shoe charity dedicated to providing a free pair of shoes to people in need, handed out thousands of pairs of new shoes on Friday, June 5, to disadvantaged youth and people living on the streets of downtown Portland.

Soles4Souls and local retailer Shoe Mill, a longtime partner of the shoe charity, worked together to promote "Barefoot Friday," a community shoe distribution in the North Park Blocks (between NW Davis and NW Everett Street).  The event started at 10am and concluded at 2pm.

Local homeless agencies, including OutsideIn, Bridgetown Ministries, Union Gospel Mission and others also helped to coordinate the event and act as volunteers.

"We were very proud to work with Shoe Mill and the tremendous homeless agencies in Portland to be able to serve people in need," said Wayne Elsey, Founder & CEO of Soles4Souls.  "This event was an important part of our Barefoot Week celebrations, which were designed to bring communities together with the common goal of helping people when they need it most," he said.

“Giving back to our community with Soles4Souls is an important part of being a successful business,” said Josh Habre, Operations Manager for the shoe retailer.  “We are so blessed and feel that it is only right that we make a way to help those in need.  We have partnered with Soles4Souls for a long time in order to reach people in need around the world.  We saw the opportunity to help right here in our hometown and were excited to give away new shoes and socks to Portlanders in need,” he said.

During Barefoot Week (June 1-7), Soles4Souls distributed more than 50,000 pairs of new shoes in the United States while it also collected "gently worn" shoes from the general public during thousands of concurrent shoe drives at retailers, schools, churches and community centers.

Celebrities also lent their support of Barefoot Week in hopes of encouraging more participation with various Soles4Souls programs.  Celebrities who publicly supported Soles4Souls included Scarlett Johansson, Zach Braff, Antawn Jamison, Jessica Simpson, Kellie Pickler, Luke Perry, Riddick Bowe, Amy Grant, Chris Hope and many others.

About Soles4Souls

Nashville-based Soles4Souls™ facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Soles4Souls has distributed more than 5 million pairs (currently donating one pair every 13 seconds) to people in over 125 countries, including Honduras, Uganda, Romania, and the United States.  The charity has been featured recently in Runner's World and the Green Guide by National Geographic.  It has also appeared on CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America.  Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

About Shoe Mill 

Shoe Mill operates fine footwear retail stores specializing in quality shoes and accessories. It is a Pacific Northwest company that opened for business in October 1978 and has been operating for 30 years. The result of the vision of a hard working and dedicated husband/wife team, it has grown from a single store into the major independently owned shoe retailer in the region.