Monday, June 7, 2010  8:00-3:00pm

Why should I participate in a distribution trip? The gift of shoes is a very personal, powerful act of service. The expression on the face of someone receiving a new pair of shoes is pure joy, regardless their age, gender or country of origin. A gift is a gift in any language, and smiles of thankfulness never need to be translated. Those smiles are their gift to us, and they remind us why we aim to Change the World One Pair at a Time®. 

There is no better way to strengthen the mission in our hearts than by implementing the mission with our hands, and we invite you to join Soles4Souls on a distribution trip to San Diego on June 7, 2010. Come with us and place the gift of shoes on the feet of people in need—you will never feel the same about a pair of shoes again.

What can I expect on a distribution trip?

All volunteers will be picked up from the hotel the morning of the distribution trip and divided into teams of 15 to 20 people. The teams will be shuttled to different areas of need within San Diego to implement their distributions. When each team arrives at their distribution location, they will set up several different stations for the distribution process:

Tables will be set up and the shoes will be sorted and laid out by size. Not all of the shoes will be set out at once. 

People will line up outside the location, and as they come in, sizers will determine the shoe sizes of the people who will be receiving them. They will often have to measure the feet, as the person receiving may not know his or her size, never having owned a pair before. Sizers will write the person's shoe size on a slip of paper and put an “X” mark on the person's hand.

When a spot opens up, the person receiving the shoes will hand a fitter his or her size sheet, and the fitter will find a pair of shoes from the stock table to fit the person, and place them on his or her feet. This can be one of the more strenuous activities during the distribution, as the task requires a lot of bending and time on the knees. 

Stockers will replenish the stock tables with shoes as fitters fit them to the people receiving them.

The positions will be rotated throughout the day. An iced cooler of water bottles will be provided for the day, but you are welcome to bring extra water. The team will have lunch provided at mid-day. The distribution locations are located indoors, so you will not have worry about any inclement weather. The weather will, however be very hot, and there is no guarantee that there will be air conditioning inside the locations. Dress for hot weather, and wear comfortable shoes, as you will be standing all day. Please be sure to communicate any special needs to the distribution coordinators. There is a lot of loading, unloading, bending, and lifting on a distribution, and it can make for a long and tiring day, but the joy you will receive from meeting a need of thousands of people is positively immeasurable.