www.GreatestShoeLNK.org
A fan whirring and darkness fills the room. It is 3am and my mind is racing with ideas of how to increase awareness of the extreme global need for shoes. Thoughts of the children from Haiti who's feet are scarred or blistered as we washed them before they received new shoes. With nearly 300 million children who don't have the basic life necessity of shoes, so many lives are waiting to be changed and have hope through the simple gift of shoes. But HOW I thought tossing and turning in my blankets? Uuugghhh. Race? No, been done. Conference? Meh. Finally my mind kicked in to its favorite mode, generating the most difficult idea possible that it would stretch not only your limits, but anyone involved and have a bigger impact than ever imagined. The need is great. We can be that for them
December of 2013 the idea was pitched to Soles4Souls and then over Christmas Break presented to the City of Lincoln. From the minute we started talking about it, the City has such a positive response, it showed me how much they care about a citizen's idea. We began to partner with the amazingly creative Minnow Project marketing firm to develop the full campaign.
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| Left to Right, Marty Hager Minnow Owner, Milo Mumguard Mayor's aide and Madison Hager Social Media expert |
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| Maddy Hager and I after another lunch hour of planning right before we "kicked" off the shoe drive |
May 10th we officially announced the effort at our Mayor's Press Conference and Mayor Chris Buetler realized our city has big shoes to fill :) Full press conference can be seen here, we are at around 12 minutes.
It has been VERY exciting to see our community engage and with 2,000 down, we still have 15,000 to go with a little over two weeks to break the World Record. Possible? Anything is possible friends!?
There are 4 simple ways people can share their previously loved used for another:
- Visit www.GreatestShoeLNK.org and find all of our convenient drop locations throughout Lincoln and Omaha to donate your shoes
- If you do not live in Nebraska, you can mail your shoes to Eco Stores, ATTN: GreatestShoeLNK, 530 P. Street, Lincoln, NE
- May 12th - 16th Lincoln Waste and Recycling Haulers are doing a curbside pick-up. YES, you only have to walk a few feet from your front door to recycle your shoes and make an impact.
- Spread the word through social media and with friends, co-workers, neighbors. Twitter @GreatestShoeLNK and facebook The Greatest SHOE Drive on Earth
Business's if you get your employees engaged and take a picture by your logo donating your shoes, we will feature it on our web page and social media! Yes, FREE PR with something everyone has at home, plus a changed life. Win. Win.
Upcoming event collection locations:
- Lincoln Marathon May 4th by finish line
- Haymarket Farmers Market May 10th
- May 17th. The BIG Celebration at Pinnacle Bank Arena Plaza from 9-1. Music, games, face painting and even nationally recognized baton twirler!
Below are a few highlights of our citizens in Lincoln and actually across the US who are donating their shoes! #GiveShoesGiveLove
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| Channel 3 Action News in Omaha |
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| Aspen Athletic Clubs |
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| The Black Market |
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| Omaha donor |
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| Earth Day Donor |
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| Edward Jones Investments |
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| Broadcast House Radio Station |
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| Lincoln donor |
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| These will be coming from Kansas! |
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| Lincoln donor |
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| Lincoln Running Club |
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| Lincoln Donor |
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| OCR Runners are sending their shoes! |
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| Open Harvest Grocery |
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| Pattino Shoe Boutique |
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| Even major stores are collecting! Scheels in Lincoln AND Omaha are hosting shoe box's |
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| Local church's |
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| Super C gas stations |
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| Threads Footloose and Fancy |
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| annnnnddd......Whole Foods Market |
Nebraskan's and other fellow states, we can't do this without you! Our family just cleaned out our closets and we had over 100 pairs of shoes!!
LETS GO CHANGE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE GLOBE....and in the mean time, add a World record on to it :) The Mayor even donated shoes from his household this morning!
We can do it friends, I know first hand the impact these shoes can make. You WILL be making a difference.
Thank you and it's closet cleaning time!
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
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