Would You Want to Work for These Two?

The good looking, hard working, professional Soles4Souls staff at a recent event.We’re so proud to be part of this team!

Carpentry Caveman Style

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Allan demonstrated that by using a table knife and tiny saw to cut a piece of dowling. A cupboard was coming loose in the RV, so he needed to build a support brace. After 30 minutes of sawing with his tiny blades, the job was completed. His sense of accomplishment was short lived as he went outside to stain the wood. The wind blew the stain over, spraying his face and shirt with stain. I think it looks like a blotchy suntan.

Front and Center for Green Expo

After two days of driving the curviest, windiest roads in America, we got to Bentonville Arkansas to set up for the Green EXPO. Our Soles4Souls RV is front and center of the convention center so everyone will see us and hopefully bring some gently-used shoes. The wind is blowing so hard though, that we may be across the street by the time the event starts!

Tree Planting Chaos

Wayne's gentle touch removing a dead tree, (and half the yard).

Most people use Sunday as a day of rest. Not Wayne Elsey, founder of Soles4Soulds. He arrived at our RV at 7:45 am (after telling us the night before that he’d meet us at 10:00am). “We’re going to plant some trees at the new office!” he said, with all the enthusiasm of an untrained arborist. And plant trees we did…44 trees to be exact. While other people did the manual work of actually digging holes, Wayne made digging comments such as, “Let’s work faster! Aren’t you done with that hole yet?” Of course then he bought lunch for everyone and even offered to give rides on the forklift he was driving. Not that anyone wanted to be near him as he lifted the forklift arms and moved anything that was moveable. He and Allan have a slight disagreement going as to whose fault it was that the forklift got stuck in the lawn while trying to remove a dead tree. Yes, Allan was driving and claims the counter weight was too heavy. Wayne claims Allan is simply not as experienced at driving a forklift as he is. They bantered back and forth the entire 30 minutes it took them to get the forklift back where it belonged on the pavement. Now they are arguing over who needs to fill in the hole the forklift left on the lawn. Stay tuned!

Hot Dogging It Through the Mall

Want a new experience? Try driving a Smart Car. Then drive that Smart Car through a mall at 9:00pm after everyone leaves. That’s what I did after our event with CDL Properties at Galleria Mall. I even got escorted out by a security guard!

How Many Shoes Fit in a Smart Car?

We even had a contest where people could guess how many shoes filled the Soles4Souls Smart Car. Would you have guessed there were 539 pairs inside this car?

More Than Shopping at the Mall

Even though tornado warnings continuously ran on the radio, people flocked to the Galleria Mall in Cool Springs, Tennessee last Saturday. CDL Properties, owner of malls across the country, partnered with Soles4Souls to collect gently-used shoes in all their malls. We celebrated with children’s activities and music at the Galleria Mall. Kids bowled with giant inflatable bowling pins and created biodegradable sculptures from packing peanuts made out of cornstarch. Various musicians entertained, including Soles4Souls’ own Tiffany Johnson singing songs from her new CD, “Scuffed and Simple”.

A Fine Looking Staff

The Soles4Souls staff is growing! Check out this group photo of the talented, highly professional people working to help get shoes to people in need around the world. Of course, since Wayne Elsey, founder of Soles4Souls was out of town, we had a bit of fun.

New Addition to Soles4Souls RV Tour

We left the RV in one locaion for only 5 days and suddenly we have a new addition to our family. An industrious mother bird built a nest on the bike rack attached to the RV and layed some eggs.

Standing Between Two Countries

Standing on the border between USA and Canada

Having lived in Bellingham for over 24 years, we frequently drove the 20 miles to the Canadian border for fun times in Vancouver and points beyond. On our recent trip to Bellingham, we visited Unity of the Valley Church in White Rock, British Columbia. Unity churches have partnered with Soles4Souls in a program called “Shoes for Unity”. Church members can “sponsor” shoes for an individual, family, school or even a village. Unity of the Valley Church, led by Julie Montague, was filled with friendly, enthusiastic people looking to make the world a better place.They made us feel so welcome…plus they are now talking about having another used-shoe drive!