Two months ago, my coworker, friend and fellow blogger iNeed a Playdate decided to participate in the Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge.

Through a partnership with flipflop wines, Soles4Souls posted an open invitation to bloggers to reach out to their online and local communities and collect shoes.  

Every pair of donated shoes helps further Soles4Souls’ mission of providing footwear to individuals in impoverished areas so that they can live healthy, productive lives.

Well, the journey ended yesterday and I’m really excited to announce that with your help, we were named as one of the finalists!

Want to learn how many pairs helped us reach the Finalists Board? Check out iNeed a Playdate’s blog today for the final tally!

We were both floored by the response, which would have been impossible without the help of a lot of people so I wanted to send a few shout-outs of thanks:

First, a huge thank you to PR Newswire‘s Cleveland office where iNeed a Playdate and I work.  Our co-workers opened their closets and donated bags of shoes to the cause! I consider myself lucky to belong to an office culture that’s often willing to support its co-workers and give back to the community.

The same goes for the Penton Media Building in downtown Cleveland, where our office is located.  They very graciously allowed us to set up a drop-off location in the downstairs lobby.  If you dropped off shoes there, thank you so much!

Thank you to Mullens on Madison for letting us hang out on a Saturday night and collect shoes at our #FlippinGoodDeeds Party! In addition to offering beer specials, owner Mike Mercer even contributed a bag of shoes to the drive. 

If you love skeeball like me but don’t want to go to an arcade, this laidback bar on Madison Ave. has it.  With very inexpensive drinks, you’ll have more money to play – so pay them a visit some time.

Guests at the #FlippinGoodDeeds Party also were entered into a giftbasket raffle. Thanks to Heather Adams, Scentsy Independent Consultant and The Cuyahoga Group for donating items to accompany our flipflop wine and Sears Gift Card.

iNeed a Playdate and My Got Fam at Mullens (and Scott playing the megatouch machine in the background)

Much like my Twestival experience earlier in the year, the Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge reinforced how social media is not just a tool for work or fun, but can also be used to bring about social good.

And an added bonus? I got to become closer to iNeed a Playdate! So the biggest thanks goes out to her for telling me about the Challenge and inviting me  to partner with her.

As I mentioned when I first started this, I learned how important it is to have the right shoes when I was training for the Run for the Pierogies. So the fact that we collected any shoes at all makes me really happy. 

Even if we had collected 10 pairs, that still would have helped 10 different people — some of them being children who are required to wear shoes just to attend school. So thanks to everyone for your help in helping many many more!

flipflop wines 411:

• “flipflop – to each, their own”
• @flipflopwines
• Like flipflop wines on Facebook

Soles4Souls 411:

• Soles4Souls Mission
• @Soles4Souls
• GivesShoes on Facebook

Photo from Yelp.com

Since starting the Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge last month, iNeedaPlaydate and I have been grateful for all of the shoes donated so far.

Now, we’re giving you another way to drop off your shoes:

Join us on November 5th at Mullen’s on Madison for
the Flippin’ Good Deeds Last Chance Party!

It will be a laidback night at this Lakewood neighborhood bar where you can drop off your shoes, enjoy $2 house wine and domestic drafts, and hang out with iNeedaPlaydate and me.

• What: Flippin’ Good Deeds Last Chance Party
• When: November 5, 7-10pm
• Where: Mullen’s on Madison, 17014 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio

To RSVP you can leave a comment on this post or RSVP on Facebook.

We are also accepting items to be raffled off during the party.  You will not only receive recognition the night of the party but also the weeks leading up to the party. Email clueintocleveland (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any gift cards, tickets or other items to donate.

Of course, if you can’t make it on Nov. 5th, but would still like to donate shoes, you can:

• Drop off your donation in the box located in the Penton Media Building’s lobby, 1300 East 9th St., Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.
• Download the Blogger Donation Form and ship off your shoes to a Soles4Souls warehouse.  Don’t forget to include our blogger ID #024.

Remember, your shoe donations are tax deductible and Soles4Souls will accept any type of shoes (even if there are holes in the soles)! Check out this post for more details and FAQs.

Our shoe drive ends November 9th so you only have a few more weeks to donate.

Thanks to iNeedaPlaydate and Mullen’s on Madison for setting up the party. We hope to see you on November 5th!

***

Have you entered the Clue Into Cleveland giveaway for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Bamboo Grove Party? Today’s your last chance!

Last week, I posted about Soles4Souls’ mission and how iNeed a Playdate and I are pairing up (pardon the pun!) to bring the Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge to Cleveland (you can read the post here).

Today I’m happy to share the details about our shoe drive!  We hope you can help and if you have any questions, email me at clueintocleveland (at) gmail (dot) com.

What:

The Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge Shoe Drive

Donate any pair of gently worn footwear to support Soles4Souls’ goal of distributing 13 million pairs of shoes to those in need in 2011.

When:

Now through November 10

Where:

You have 2 options for donating your shoes:

Drop Off

All donations can be dropped off at the Penton Media Building (1300 E 9th Street in downtown Cleveland). There will be marked boxes in the lobby.

Mail In

If you don’t want to travel downtown, you can still contribute!  Shoes can either be delivered to one of Soles4Souls’ drop off locations ( 10 pairs or less ) or they can be shipped. 

Just fill out the Blogger Donation Form, indicate Blogger ID # 024 and include it with the shipment or email it to lacitam@giveshoes.org if you’re dropping off at a Soles4Souls location (no form is needed for Penton Media Building dropoff). This part is important because it ensures your shoes count towards the Drive’s grand total.

A tip on shipping: Soles4Souls recommends contacting Unishippers, their preferred shipping company who gives the best available rate to donors shipping to Soles4Souls.  Simply fill out their quote request form or contact them at 877-791-7447. 

Any other questions?

Here are a few frequently asked questions.

What types of shoes should I send?

Any kind! From boots to sneakers to flip flops to heels, there’s a need for everything.

Will you take soles with holes?

Yes! Shoes that cannot be worn any longer will be sent for recycling.

When I send the shoes, how will you know what pairs go together?

We appreciate if you can pair the shoes with their shoelaces or with a rubber band.

Should I try to clean the shoes?

No. Please send the shoes as they are. We will accept any and all shoes, with the exception of muddy and moldy ones. When shoes are cleaned improperly, mold can grow and spread to other shoes, and ultimately prevent us from distributing them.

Can donors get a tax receipt for donations?  

Of course!  Donors can fill out the Tax Receipt Form on Soles4Souls’ website and you will receive a receipt within 10-12 business days.

***

If you have any other questions or would like more information about the challenge, check out the Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge FAQs page or email me at clueintocleveland (at) gmail (dot) com! Thanks for taking part in our shoe drive. iNeed a Playdate and I will be posting updates over the next couple of months.

flipflop wines 411:

• “flipflop – to each, their own”
• @flipflopwines
• Like flipflop wines on Facebook

Soles4Souls 411:

• Soles4Souls Mission
• @Soles4Souls
• GivesShoes on Facebook

flipflop wines and Soles4Soul have joined forces to invite bloggers to participate in the Flippin' Good Deeds Challenge

When I was prepping for my first 5K, one of the biggest things I learned was that having the right shoes makes a huge difference. I couldn’t imagine not having the support of a nice running sneaker when I go out for a jog.

After reading about Soles4Souls, the first thought I had in my head was how grateful I am for those sneakers.

In 2004 when the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, Soles4Souls’ founder Wayne Elsey was watching TV one evening when he saw a picture of a shoe wash up on the beach. After making some calls to other executives in the footwear industry, he helped spearhead a donation of a quarter million shoes to victims. Then Hurricane Katrina happened and they sent over a million pairs of shoes down to the gulf coast communities affected by the hurricane.

This is when Elsey founded Soles4Souls — to continue collecting shoes year-round and getting them to people in need.

Why shoes?

Worldwide, over 300 million children are without shoes. Providing footwear to individuals in impoverished areas is the first step in helping them live healthy, productive lives.

In addition to footwear helping eliminate the spread of diseases through the foot, many schools’ uniforms require footwear — so providing shoes to children in need helps them obtain an education. You can learn more about the importance of shoes here.

The Flippin’ Good Deeds Challenge

Over the last few years, Soles4Souls has partnered with retailers, churches, nonprofit ministries, civic groups, schools, and individuals to continue their mission. One of these partnerships is with flipflop wines, a California-based wine producer. For every bottle of wine that’s purchased, Soles4Souls will distribute one pair of shoes to those in need. 

Their latest program is the flippin’ good deeds challenge, where bloggers are invited to reach out to their community and collect gently worn shoes to donate to Soles4Souls.

My coworker and fellow blogger Mary from iNeed a Playdate (you may remember her from her guest post on the Great Lakes Science Center) is a huge fan of flipflop wines and approached me about teaming up to run a local drive together. We’ll be sharing more details next week, but in the meantime you can learn about the challenge here or email me at clueintocleveland (at) gmail (dot) com.

Mary and I are really excited — so keep an eye out for a post at the beginning of next week about how you can get involved with the flippin’ good deeds challenge!

flipflop wines 411:

• “flipflop – to each, their own”
• @flipflopwines
• Like flipflop wines on Facebook

Soles4Souls 411:

• Soles4Souls Mission
• @Soles4Souls
• GivesShoes on Facebook