With an estimated 200,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless, Haiti’s need for help is at an all-time high. One Chicago business is heeding that call.
House of Sole has partnered with a Nashville charity, Soles 4 Souls, to donate collected shoes to Haiti’s earthquake victims. House of Sole owner Tiffany Bullock has dispatched about 200 pounds of shoes since she began collecting just days after the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.
“When this came about, the significance of it, you think about, ‘Well, how much can you give,'” Bullock said. “You only have so many dollars and with this being tough times, you want to still do more. So, I was like, ‘Shoes, that’s what I do.’ So I put out the call and we’ve had an overwhelming response.”
Susan Berman was one who heard Bullock’s call and showed up with two bags brimming with shoes.
“We have shoes and they need them,” Berman said. “We don’t use all of our shoes. We went through the closet last night and threw them in bags. [The shoes] we’re not wearing and what’s appropriate for the climate of Haiti is over here.”
Donations and pledges to Haiti worldwide have topped $834 billion. The U.S. has already pledged more than $100 million in aid while the American Red Cross has raised $112 million, including $22 million in text-based donations, the highest amount ever pledged by text. Soles for Souls has collected and donated more than one million pairs of shoes to aid Haiti’s recovery process.
“I welcome all,” Bullock said. “Everyone needs shoes; that’s the best thing. You put out one small e-mail and this is the result and it’s significant.”
House of Sole, located in downtown Chicago, will be collecting shoe donations through Jan. 31.
To donate money or goods:
American Red Cross of Greater Chicago
To donate: 312-729-6100
Assistance For American Citizens Abroad
U.S. Dept. of State
888-407-4747 (To trace family members in Haiti)
Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE)
Children of Haiti Enhancement Foundation, Inc. (C.O.H.E.F.)
Doctors Without Borders
Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti
1227 Dodge Avenue
Evanston, Ill. 60202
847-475-5856, or contact@haitiancongress.org
Haiti Mission Fund
125 Michigan Ave, NE – 4th floor
Washington, D.C. 20017
Contact: Janet Stolba, RJM, 202-884-9795, or jmstolba@aol.com
Hyde Park Self Storage
5155 S. Cottage Grove
Chicago, Ill. 60615
773-955-5500
Contact: Doris Lewis, 773 624-1828; or Barbara Minor, 773-826-8115. (To drop off goods)
LIB Radio Haitian Relief Fund
NAACP Haitian relief fund
Nguzo Saba Moorish Science Academy
1929 W. 87th St.
Chicago, Ill. 60620
773-298-1900
(Donation and collection effort by members of Moorish Science Temple)
Shelter Box
An international relief organization
Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund
Use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill). Or donate at: www.yele.org.
