Chesco company seeks old shoes for donations

CHESTER COUNTY

Old shoes sought for donations

WEST CHESTER Old shoes taking up room in your closet? A West Chester company wants them.

AREUFIT Health Services Inc., is holding a shoe drive for unwanted footwear, which it will donate to Soles4Souls, a nonprofit that uses shoes to fight global poverty.

"AREUFIT is supporting Soles4Souls because it is the definition of a social enterprise where solid business practices are used to create positive change in people's lives," said Alysha Naples, an AREUFIT spokesperson.

Soles4Souls sells used shoes to microenterprise organizations, which support small businesses in poor nations, allowing them to gain income. Soles4Souls uses the revenue to buy more new shoes, which it distributes to people in need - such as the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, to whom the nonprofit gave more than 50,000 pairs of new shoes.

AREUFIT will collect used athletic shoes of any kind during January, February and March at its office: the Farmhouse, 1390 Birmingham Rd., West Chester, Pa. 19382. The phone number is 610-993-9123. - Justine McDaniel