Tornado Rips through Warehouse, Provides 180,000 Shoes for Orphans

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By Analiz González
Buckner International

(DALLAS, Texas) — A tornado that tore through an R.G. Barry Corporation shoe distribution center in San Angelo, Texas, brought the biggest Shoes for Orphan Souls donation ever to arrive at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas.

The shoes came to Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls when Alan Wilson, with Templeton Construction, decided to find a non-profit who could take the shoes instead of tossing them in the dump.

The non-profit would have to make the commitment to send the shoes out-of country, to keep insurance regulations. Wilson found SOS through Carmen Nila, a member of PaulAnn Baptist Church in San Angelo.

PaulAnn had hosted a shoe drive in 2007.

“If Alan Wilson hadn’t made contact with Carmen Nila, and if PaulAnn Baptist Church hadn’t done a shoe drive the year before, and if the tornado never even hit… well, then we wouldn’t be here today,” said Rachel Garton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls. “There are a lot of heroes in this story. A lot of people came together to make this donation happen. And a lot of kids will benefit because of it.”

Greg Tunney, president and chief executive officer at R.G. Barry Corporation, said they regularly work with footwear-based charities including Soles for Souls and the Two Ten Foundation.

“But the aftermath of the San Angelo tornado was an unusual situation,” Tunney said. “Our insurance called for all products damaged in the tornado to be destroyed to prevent possible resale.

“Fortunately, they agreed to let us to donate these shoes and slippers to the Shoes for Orphan Souls organization rather than sending them to the landfill. We could not be happier.”

Shoes for Orphan Souls reaches children who might otherwise go barefoot in cold weather or on rough land. It takes shoes to children who can’t afford a new pair and it takes them to orphans who often don’t own anything besides what they wear on their feet.

About 30-40 volunteers from PaulAnn sorted and boxed shoes May 1 in the shade-free lot behind the R.G. Barry warehouse. Wal-Mart donated the use of their 18-wheelers to transport the shoes to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas. Although not all the shoes have been transported yet, 15 trucks of 53 feet in length are expected to be used.

Now, as they arrive truck by truck to the humanitarian aid center, volunteers in the area are donating time and muscle to sort and unload the shoes.

“It has been remarkable to have all of those shoes come to Buckner,” said Ken Hall, president of Buckner International. “The people of San Angelo really came together on behalf of the children who will receive these shoes. Now we’re relying on people in the Dallas area. Buckner is so grateful to R.G. Barry for allowing us to distribute the shoes. And we could have never done this without the work of the members of PaulAnn Baptist Church and Wal-Mart.”
 
Hall said the blessing of receiving so many shoes also comes with the responsibility to distribute them.
 
"We're definitely going to need financial support for additional storage and shipping expenses," Hall said.

The R.G. Barry donation was the largest single domestic donation made to Shoes for Orphan Souls. But Garton said there is still a great need for people to host shoe drives and donate shoes.

“The shoes we received from R.G. Barry Corporation are mostly slippers and house shoes,” she said. “They will be a huge blessing to children in different parts of the world, especially in the colder countries. But there is still a need for sneakers and shoes that protect the children’s feet.”

For more information about Shoes for Orphan Souls, visit the Web site at www.ShoesforOrphanSouls.org or call 1-866-774-SHOE.