Jake Damiani with a sign showing the success of the 2021 S4S drive | Photo Credit: St. Edward’s School, Vero Beach

Brothers Jake and Luke Damiani led the third annual Soles 4 Souls Shoe Drive at St. Edward’s Episcopal School, Vero Beach, Feb. 7-25, collecting 200 pairs of shoes for those in need.

“My mom teaches at St. Edward’s and volunteers a lot, so we volunteer at Habitat for Humanity,” said Jake, 18. “When I was a sophomore, I began looking for a service project that I could bring to St. Edward’s. I’d never started anything, so my mom helped me. We found out about S4S.”

S4S provided all downloadable promotional materials for the drive, boxes for the collection points and postage for the shoes collected. “I couldn’t believe how easy it was to do a drive. I got Luke to help me,” Jake explained.

The two set up three campus drop-off sites, made announcements and encouraged other students to participate. “I was surprised at how easy it is to get everyone to realize how important it is to donate shoes,” said Luke, 16.

The Damiani brothers have led St. Edward’s to collect more than 700 pairs of shoes in S4S drives over the past three years, with the 2020 drive yielding between 200 and 300 pairs. “We had 309 pairs of shoes donated in 2021,” Jake said.

“Businesses and individuals who host donation drives for Soles4Souls help us fulfill our mission by providing short-term relief and long-term solutions to global poverty,” said CEO Buddy Teaster of Soles4Souls. “Every single one of those pairs of shoes collected by our partners makes a difference in someone’s life.”

The donated shoes will be distributed to Soles4Souls’ microenterprise program, a model that allows individuals to start small businesses by providing a steady supply of high-quality, low-cost products. Funds generated through the microenterprise program allow S4S to use 100% of donor contributions for direct assistance and disaster relief programs in all 50 states. The gently used shoes that partners collect get funneled to developing countries, creating jobs in Haiti and Honduras, where people start small businesses to sell them. By selling shoes, business owners have money to provide for their families—and people who need shoes the most get them at a price they can afford. S4S also gives a second life to unwanted shoes, keeping them out of landfills and protecting the environment.

Since 2006, S4S supporters have helped create $475,218,499 in economic opportunity, and 40,677,127 pairs of shoes have been saved from waste and put to good use. By collecting discarded shoes and clothing for the organization’s microenterprise program, 51 million pounds of textiles have been kept out of U.S. landfills, helping to preserve our planet for future generations.

Americans throw away 70 pounds of textiles per person per year, according to the S4S website. That adds up to 21 billion pounds of unnecessary waste added to our landfills. The EPA estimates that only 15% of clothing and footwear in the U.S. is recycled, leaving the remaining 85% in our landfills.

S4S distributes the new shoes and clothing donated by its corporate partners to people in need in the U.S. and worldwide throughout the year and in times of disaster.

The nonprofit’s goal for 2022 is to provide new athletic shoes to the more than 1.5 million children experiencing homelessness in the United States. S4S partners with women’s shelters, veterans organizations, children’s programs and schools to get shoes and clothing to those who need it most.

Since Jake is a graduating senior, Luke plans to oversee the drive next year. “St. Edward’s has 600 students, and if I could get all 600 students at St. Edward’s to donate a pair of shoes next year, we could help so many more people,” he said.

If you would like to sponsor a drive or donate shoes, clothing or money, please go to soles4souls.org.