The average person in the U.S. owns about 17 pairs of shoes, buys six to seven new pairs of shoes every year, and donates or sells only about 15% of all of their unwanted old shoes and clothes.
The rest (almost 60 pounds per person per year) ends up in landfills, taking decades to break down and using up valuable space. To make matters worse, much of the footwear being landfilled could really benefit people who don’t have shoes or don’t have the right shoes to fit their needs.
To address both of these concerns, co-founders Bob Broughton and Maureen Leisure created Changing Footprints. This all-volunteer, non-profit organization in Indiana collects unwanted shoes and distributes them for FREE to kids and adults who need them, locally and internationally.
Most recently, volunteers at Changing Footprints helped sort, clean, transport, and provide 3400 pairs of gently used shoes to the Afghan refugees who were temporarily housed at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. Many of the refugees left their homes in Afghanistan quickly and arrived with very few belongings. The donated shoes came just in time for the refugees to have warm footwear for the winter. Read more about this inspiring organization here.
Image Credit: Adam Smigielski | E+ | Getty Images