Soles4Souls annual shoe collection this week

Soles4Souls is making its annual push to collect shoes for the needy all around the world.

The not-for-profit organization based is in Nashville, Tennessee, and this week its efforts are seen in Southeast Missouri during Shoe Collection Week, with a designated drop-off location at the parking lot outside of Houck Field House and Houck Stadium at 920 Broadway.

More than 41,000 pairs of shoes have been donated from the Cape Girardeau community since 2011, Soles4Souls student organization chapter adviser Cheryl Reinagel said.

Cheryl Reinagel collects donated shoes inside of a trailer during a Soles4Souls shoe drive in the Houck Field House parking lot Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

�I think it really is a good project. We�re not asking for money, just those unused shoes that people have in their closets,� she said.

New and gently-used shoes are acceptable for donation.

�Any season, any style, any size,� Reinagel said. �From the ballet slippers to the boots in the barn.�

Donated shoes sit stacked in a box during a Soles4Souls shoe drive in the Houck Field House parking lot Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Most volunteers for this event are students, she said.

Reinagel said she had three girls arrive Monday.

�One is from Sri Lanka, and she�s been here two months, and I asked, �How did you hear about this?� She just said she likes to help people and give back. I asked if there were impoverished areas in Sri Lanka and she said, �Yes, and we always try to do things to help other people.� She said, �I just wanted to come and help.��

A framed photo rests inside a trailer behind boxes of donated shoes during a Soles4Souls shoe drive in the Houck Field House parking lot Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Reinagel has been employed at Southeast for 20 years and has been part of the annual Shoe Collection Week since 2011. She loves seeing the impact is has on the community.

�It�s just hard for me to think that sometimes the only way a child can go to school is to have a pair of shoes on, in other cultures,� Reinagel said.

Shoes are distributed in all 50 states and 127 countries, she said.

Boxes sit inside of a trailer during a Soles4Souls shoe drive in the Houck Field House parking lot Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

�That�s a good thing for us, because it can be in the inner cities and homeless shelters, including natural disasters,� Reinagel said. �So the people who like to take care of �our own,� it helps that, and helps all the way around.�

Reinagel said shoes collected during this week would be shipped to the Soles4Souls national headquarters in Tennessee, then shipped out to where they are needed.

Reinagel said some area schools are collecting shoes. In Cape Girardeau, the mayor declared this �Soles4Souls Week,� Reinagel said.

Donations for Soles4Souls are being accepted through Monday at the parking lot outside of Houck Stadium on Broadway. More information about the annual shoe collection week can be found online at www.soles4souls.org.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

920 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.