Look To The Stars News: Soles4Souls

Kellie Pickler Launches Charity Shoe Initiative

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Kellie Pickler’s affinity for shoes is well documented. Her 2006 debut single kicked a no-account-ex-boyfriend to the curb in “Red High Heels,” and her current, self titled album closes with “Going Out In Style,” which expresses her desire for her final resting place…having her ashes spread in shoe department of Saks Fifth Avenue. But Pickler, whose modest upbringing allowed for little more than the basics, understands the realities of living without.

With that, Kellie continues her support of Soles4Souls and will team with Ladies’ Home Journal the “Look Good. Do Good. Feel Great” magazine, to collect new and gently worn shoes on Thursday, August 27 before her show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The drop point for the shoes will be located at entrance to the Garden and will be open from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

On Soles4Souls Pickler said, “I love shoes but they are more than just a fashion statement, they are a necessity and not everyone has access to them because of financial reasons or natural disaster. Whatever the situation, Soles4Souls is there to help and I’m glad to lend my support. Thanks to the wonderful people from Ladies’ Home Journal who are volunteering their time to come out and collect the shoes that people are giving.”

Pickler joins her friend Taylor Swift on the Fearless Tour 2009 for the sold out show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on August 27. Pickler and Swift wrote Pickler’s last single, “Best Days Of Your Life,” which has sold more than 700,000 digital downloads and peaked inside the Top 10.

Nashville-based Soles4Souls collects and distributes free footwear (both new and ‘gently worn’) to people in need around the world. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 5 million pairs — currently one pair every 13 seconds — to people in 125 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, The Sudan and the United States.

In addition to donations from the footwear industry, Soles4Souls has received shoes and support from Scarlett Johansson, Zach Braff, Billy Joel, Jessica Simpson, Donald Faison, Stevie Nicks and many other celebrities, professional athletes and musicians.

Green Day's Vegan Shoes Go To Charity

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Last month, Look To The Stars brought you the news that Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt had designed a new vegan shoe. Now we can reveal that he is donating all royalties from sales to shoe charity Soles4Souls, the international shoe charity dedicated to providing free shoes to people in need.

The “45 RPM” Studio Project shoe hit the streets worldwide in June 2009, on the tail of Green Day’s highly anticipated album release, “21st Century Breakdown.” The shoe, just like the band, is turning heads around the world.

The “45 RPM” comes in the lax low top or aggressive high top, so choose your statement and rock it fully; either way, both options are 100 percent vegan-crafted, containing zero animal products in the construction and distribution. The shoe comes in black, but is highlighted with distressed gold lining and eyelets, and even showcases custom 45 RPM record artwork. If that’s not enough, the shoe’s boot-like construction is sure to fit Mike’s unique style.

Macbeth Footwear is excited to get these shoes onto your feet so you can check out “21st Century Breakdown” in the utmost appropriate style.

Dirnt’s decision to personally contribute all the royalties from this shoe towards Soles4Souls has energized the charity: “We are so excited to be a part of this incredible promotion,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls. "We are very grateful for Mike Dirnt’s generosity and encourage everyone to check out Mike’s awesome new shoes.“

Check out the shoes here. More info can be found here.

Scarlett Johansson Goes Barefoot For Charity

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0000

This week is the Second Annual Barefoot Week, organized by Soles4Souls, and a host of celebrities are stepping forward to support it.

Soles4Souls is an international shoe charity dedicated to providing a free pair of shoes to people in need. This week, the non-profit organization will be distributing thousands of pairs of new shoes in the United States while it also collects “gently worn” shoes from the general public during thousands of concurrent shoe drives at schools, churches and community centers.

The campaign is being spearheaded by Scarlett Johansson, who previously donated 2000 pairs of new shoes from her own line of Reebok footwear, and is lending her name to help raise publicity about Barefoot Week. Antawn Jamison, Jessica Simpson, Brittany Snow, Kellie Pickler, Luke Perry, Riddick Bowe, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Chris Hope, Jeff Fisher and Tim Dunn have also voiced their support for the weeklong series of events.

“If you can’t dig deep in your pockets, than dig in your closet!“ said Johansson. “Americans can make a huge difference with Soles4Souls by donating shoes. Souls4Soles gives away a pair of shoes every 13 seconds in over 125 countries, with over 55 percent donated to fellow Americans.”

The full event schedule is:

Monday, June 1st: In Indianapolis, Soles4Souls will be working with Wheeler Mission Ministries to hand out 4,000 pairs of new shoes and 6,000 pairs of flip-flops to people served by the downtown mission. Visit www.wheelermission.org for more information.

Tuesday, June 2nd: In Atlanta, Soles4Souls will be working with City of Refuge, a non-profit organization that offers both life saving resources and life building tools to individuals and families in Atlanta who are living on the margin. They will be handing out 4,000 pairs of new shoes and 6,000 pairs of flip-flops. Visit www.cityofrefugeinc.com for more information on the Soles4Souls partner in Atlanta.

Wednesday, June 3rd: Soles4Souls will be working side-by-side with The Foundry, a Birmingham-area charity focused on rebuilding lives and restoring hope of recovering addicts, ex-inmates and the homeless. They will be handing out 4,000 pairs of new shoes and 6,000 pairs of flip-flops. Learn more at www.thefoundryonline.org.

Thursday, June 4th: Soles4Souls will be at the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles, working with thousands of homeless on Skid Row. The Mission provides a myriad of services to people in need, such as education and job opportunities, drug and alcohol treatment, and medical and legal services. They will be handing out 4,000 pairs of new shoes and 6,000 pairs of flip-flops. Visit www.midnightmission.org for more information.

Friday, June 5th: Soles4Souls will be working with local retailer Shoe Mill (www.shoemill.com), as well as adidas (also headquartered in Portland) to provide 5,000 pairs of new shoes and 3,000 pairs of new socks to the large homeless youth population and families living on the streets. The event will be held in the North Park Blocks (NW 8th and NW Everett Streets). Delivered Dish (www.d-dish.com), a local restaurant delivery service, is catering the event. Janus Youth Programs (www.janusyouth.org), Outside In (www.outsidein.org), Bridgetown Ministries (www.bridgetownministries.com) and other homeless programs for at-risk youth are jointly sponsoring the event.

On Saturday, June 6th, Soles4Souls will return to Los Angeles and appear at the Los Angeles Mission (www.losangelesmission.org) to distribute 2500 pairs of new shoes and 3500 pairs of flip-flops to the needy people served during the annual “Community BBQ” sponsored by the Mission.

Rev Run Wants Your Shoe Designs

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Run DMC co-founder Joseph Simmons – AKA Rev Run – recently hosted a charity event in New York for Soles4Souls.

The 44-year-old younger brother of Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons has partnered his shoe company, Run Athletics, with the Souls4Souls charity and encouraged guests at the event to donate shoes to send to Darfur. He also used the occasion to launch a new shoe design contest to raise money for the cause.

The winning design in the contest – which can be accessed at www.runathletics.com/soles4souls – will be manufactured and showcased at a special ceremony on December 17. The winners of the competition – and the top shoe donators at Simmons’ events – will receive a pair of limited edition Run Athletics sneakers.

Scarlett Johansson Soles Souls for Soles4Souls

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:29:45 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Scarlett Johansson joins celebrities such as Don Cheadle and Jessica Alba in bringing attention to Soles4Souls, a charity that donates shoes to the world’s shoeless, particularly after natural disasters when people are most vulnerable.

June 1, National Barefoot Day, will kick off Sole4Soul’s first national Barefoot Week. The week promises to be filled with fun runs, shoe drives, walkathons, parties and lots of entertaining events in an effort to get donors to become regularly engaged with the charity.

Founder Wayne Elsey says, “Raising awareness is a good thing, but for people to truly ‘own’ our charity, we need to give them chances to personally participate in our mission – and Barefoot Week is designed to do that.”

In addition to the human impact, the charity also has a message on the environmental benefits. According to Elsey, while 300 million children have never owned a pair of shoes, that same amount of shoes was dumped into American landfills last year alone.

Lauren Conrad, who plans to participate in the week-long summer event, says, “Soles4Souls is an amazing organization and their efforts help those in need while promoting recycling at the same time. I am proud to say that I will be cleaning out my closet on their behalf for the second year in a row and urging all of my friends to do the same.”

Scarlett Johansson has already donated 2000 pairs of shoes to the charity.

During Barefoot Week, Soles4Soles will donate over 300 thousand pairs of new shoes to hurricane ravaged New Orleans and four other struggling communities in the US.

Billy Joel - A Philanthropic Man

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:26:01 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Billy Joel is back with his first new song since 1994 – sort of. The 58-year-old singer has made a triumphant return with “Christmas in Fallujah”, a protest song about the war in Iraq, with proceeds going to charity.

“I guess [it’s] just a cumulative effect of this war,” said the Grammy winning singer about how he came to write the song. “We’ve been there longer than World War II. I’ve been getting mail from service people over there, and there seemed to be a similar theme running through the letters, which was a sense of alienation from the home front. I think a lot of people are starting to feel like they’re forgotten.”

However, don’t expect to hear Joel’s trademark piano on the recording – in fact, don’t expect to hear much of Joel himself. The semi-retired entertainer decided to let a young musician from Long Island, 21-year-old Cass Dillon, take the lead vocals.

“I wanted to help somebody else’s career,” said Joel. “I’ve had plenty of hits. I’ve had plenty of airplay. I’ve had my time in the sun. I think it’s time for somebody else, maybe, to benefit from my own experience.”

Proceeds from the song, available on iTunes, will go to Home For Our Troops, a non-profit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely disabled veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a cause close to the singer’s heart, and earlier this year he contributed to Five For Fighting frontman John Ondrasik’s CD produced exclusively for troops stationed overseas. The compilation also featured songs donated by Sarah McLachlan and Josh Groban.

“I don’t get up on a soapbox and do political messages,” said Joel in Rolling Stone Magazine. “I believe in talking about the human being, and the conditions humans find themselves in. I never liked it when a rock star got up on stage and told people how to vote. I find it insulting. But I believe if an artist feels strongly about something, it should be reflected in their art. Ultimately, everything’s political. Even love is political.”

Billy Joel is certainly no stranger to philanthropy, a fact that was recognized when he was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in 2002 for his accomplishments as a humanitarian. Joel is well known as being a supporter of several causes, and contributes regularly to organizations around his hometown of Long Island. Over the years he has played benefit concerts for Charity Begins At Home, Farm Aid, USA For Africa, several AIDS groups, the United Service Organization, as well as many concerts to raise money for environmental causes, such as Sting’s Rainforest Benefit Concerts in the late 1990s, and Don Henley’s Concert For Walden Woods. While on tour in Japan in 1994, Joel experienced the disastrous Kobe earthquake, and donated the proceeds from several shows to relief efforts.

Joel’s record for benefit concerts looks set to continue into 2008, with the singer being booked to headline the Soles4Souls Opening Night at WSA concert on February 21 at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas.

Soles4Souls is a non-profit organization with a simple aim – to change the world, one pair of shoes at a time. The foundation was established by Wayne Elsey during the Asian Tsunami in December, 2004, with the idea to donate shoes to people devastated by the disaster. A quarter of a million shoes were donated by shoe companies and individuals, and another three quarters of a million were donated after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“I’m happy to be able to help people with such a simple mission,” said Elsey. “The growth of this organization has been rapid and I am excited to get involved on a daily basis so that I can devote more time to a cause that makes a difference in people’s lives.”

The benefit concert will be hosted by Miss Massachusetts 2005, Cristina Nardozzi, who appeared in the movie “Ocean’s Thirteen” and also hosts “The Good Show”, a celebrity-driven television program that features stars and their favorite celebrities.

Tickets are available at www.openingnightatwsa.com.

Johansson and Alba Kick Off Million Pair March

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:17:13 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Stars such as Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle and Jessica Alba are donating their shoes and support to the Spring Cleaning/Million Pair March organized by Soles4Souls.

The charity provides aid for those in need around the world, and is collecting shoes and funds for a Fall shipment to refugee camps in the war-torn Sudan.

“Bringing sandals to remote villages will change the quality of an impoverished person’s life overnight,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder of Soles4Souls. “Wearing shoes can stop hookworm infections, as well as cuts and puncture wounds from sharp objects that can result in permanent injury. It helps to end the cycle of pain.”

Other celebrities who are helping the cause include Kristin Chenoweth, Parker Posey, Susan Lucci, Jeff Probst, Melissa Rivers and Moby.

Soles4Souls hopes to collect one million pairs of shoes and $1 million to cover the shipping costs. They are asking people to donate new or “gently worn” shoes and/or money.

To date the charity has collected over two million pairs of shoes which have helped victims of the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and others in need in the US and abroad. For more information on how you can help, go to www.GiveShoes.org.

Look To The Stars News: Soles4Souls

Kellie Pickler Launches Charity Shoe Initiative

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Green Day's Vegan Shoes Go To Charity

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