6 schools launching a massive shoe drive for needy.
Tahoe, CA. – March 20, 2014 Incline High School will be joining the massive ‘Tahoe’s Got Sole’ campaign, one of the largest shoe drives ever conducted in the Lake Tahoe basin, funded by Lakeshore Realty and hosted by Think Kindness. Incline’s campaign will launch with a school-wide assembly with Brian Williams, nationally acclaimed youth motivational speaker and founder of the non-profit organization, Think Kindness.
“Our goal is to bring all the youth within the Lake Tahoe basin together for one massive Kindness initiative, so large in scale, that it truly impacts the lives of individuals not only within the community, but around the globe,” says Williams.
Williams founded Think Kindness in 2009 with the core mission of inspiring measurable acts of Kindness in schools and communities around the world. Each year the organization inspires over 60,000 students across the United States to partake in a 15 Days of Kindness challenge. The Tahoe’s Got Sole campaign is unique in that nearly every middle and high school in the basin will be partaking in the challenge.
“This campaign will ban each student body together in an initiative to inspire and cultivate a Kindness movement within each school and our community.We are so happy to be able to help bring this campaign to fruition here in the Tahoe/Truckee area” says Patti Plastiras, Owner of Lakeshore Realty.
Each year the 15 Days of Kindness campaign has one unique call-to-action. This year’s CTA is a massive shoe drive. . . 10,000 pairs of shoes to be exact.
“A massive pile of shoes is an inspirational visual that proves that one simple act of Kindness, when done in solidarity with others, can truly add up to something massive,” says Williams.
The goal for the initiative will be to collect 10,000 pairs of gently used shoes within the Tahoe Basin. All of the shoes collected will be first distributed to local shelters and needy during a ‘free shoe day’. In addition, local students, teachers, and community members will be volunteering to personally deliver the remaining shoes to children and families in developing countries.
According to Williams, there are over 300 million children in the world that can’t afford a pair of shoes. This becomes a shocking figure when compared to the 2.4 billion new shoes Americans purchase every year, with the old shoes either collecting dust in a closet or filling up a landfill. “We hope to re-purpose gently used shoes and find them a new home on the feet of someone in need. To those, it’s not just a pair of shoes, but the gift of hope for a brighter future,” says Williams.
The campaign calls for any style of shoes, spanning from high heels, athletic shoes, to sandals.
“As long as they are gently used, we will gladly accept them and find them an incredible new home,” says Williams
As of now Williams will be challenging a total of 6 schools in the Tahoe/Truckee area to the Think Kindness’ ‘15 Days of Kindness’ Challenge and Shoe Collection. He will be visiting North Tahoe High, Truckee High, Incline High, Sierra Continuation, North Tahoe Middle, and Alder Creek Middle School putting the studentsin the Tahoe/Truckee area together as a cohesive group!
If you would like more information about attending the assemblies, shoe drop-off locations, and to inquire about how you may get involved visit: www.ThinkKindness.org/LakeTahoe or call 775-636-8026.
