How to Collect Shoes
Donate your shoes
We gratefully accept your shoe donations at our office location (8835 W Heather Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53224) between 8:00am and 4:00pm. Please call 414-365-1392 to schedule a drop off. You can also find a Shoe Collection Site near you, accepting shoe donations at this time.
Hosting a shoe drive is an important way to be involved in the Soles For Jesus mission. We pack and ship the shoes that YOU send us! You will be amazed at how exciting it is to roll up your sleeves and make a difference. This project is perfect for church groups, girl and boy-scout groups, schools, and neighborhood or community groups of any kind.
Along with collecting shoes, we also ask you to get involved in sending them. We challenge your group to raise $1 for every pair of shoes collected to help send them to Africa. (It costs about $2 to send each pair to Africa.) Also, you will also have an option to arrange for your group (12 years and older) to sort and pack shoes at a private volunteer event in our warehouse. Watch how serving together can transform your community and communities around the world!
Hosting a shoe drive is easy, and our shoe drive coordinator will provide you with all the information and support you need. Please email Info@solesforjesus.org to get started
Choose a date for your barefoot event, and advertise it well in advance. Prepare students or your entire church family to show up for this special service or event without shoes. Add a red carpet to your main entrance to add some excitement, along with a photographer to capture guests as they arrive. Participants are encouraged to bring along their shoe donations on this date.
This is a fun way to involve all ages, as kids, teens, and adults will realize how it feels to live for a few hours without shoes. A Barefoot Event can also be advertised along with your shoe drive, as the kick-off or closing date of your drive. (Be sure to share your pictures and events with us, so we can add you to our SFJ Photo Gallery!)
We are amazed at the generosity of kids! Instead of asking for gifts, the birthday child can ask that everyone brings a pair of shoes to donate. You could even bring your friends to the SFJ warehouse for a SOS event on your birthday!
Organize a Christmas contest with neighbors, inviting them to decorate their homes. Pick a voting date and time when participating families can take a stroll to vote on their favorite house. To cast your vote, drop a pair of shoes in front of the best decorated home! The house with the most donated shoes wins!
Sometimes people donate shoes that need new shoe laces. Invite participants to purchase a fun pair of shoe laces to go with each pair of shoes they donate!
A Front Porch Shoe Drive is an easy way to collect shoes! Spread the word through social media like Facebook, Instagram or apps like Nextdoor, then place our collection box (or your own bin) on your front porch or driveway. Friends, family, and neighbors can drop off shoes at their convenience. Bring the box inside at night to keep the shoes dry.
When your drive is finished, place the shoes in large trash bags for easy transport to our warehouse. Please give us a call beforehand so we can be ready to help unload. We’d also love to share your photos on social media, so feel free to send them our way!
Where to Collect Shoes
There are many places to collect shoes for Soles for Jesus, making it easy for anyone to get involved. By inviting your community to donate new or gently used shoes, you can help Soles for Jesus spread God’s love in a practical way. Every pair of shoes collected provides comfort, protection, and hope to someone in need, turning a simple donation into a lasting impact.
Preschool, day care, public and private schools, we have made a way for them all to get involved! (Posters and boxes made for public schools are available for you.) Getting the principal and student council on board is helpful. Designate a few students and teachers to advertise the shoe drive & fundraising information over the PA system or in the classroom.
SFJ has collected shoes from businesses across the U.S. Ask the businesses in your area if they’d like to get involved in your shoe drive. They can put up a poster and a collection box in their office, and get their staff involved too. Offer to pick up the shoes once their box is full and add it to your collection!
There are so many churches that support SFJ and we are grateful for every one of them! Ask your pastor or youthleader to help you organize a shoe drive at your church. We’ll provide you with a collection box, posters, and we’ll do our best to provide a representative to speak about SFJ if you desire. This is a great way to show your congregation how God is working in the lives of his people across the globe!
Ask for a free space at the market to collect shoes for a month. Each week, pass out flyers to remind people to bring shoes the following week. Community supporters may even provide you with coupons to their stores that you can give to those who donate.
Go to the rummage sales in your neighborhood and either purchase the shoes they are selling or ask the seller to consider donating their left over shoes to Africa.
Drop a bag and flyer at each house in your neighborhood or community. Include directions on filling the bag with shoes and ask them to leave the bag on their doorstep on a designated date and time. Rally volunteers to go around and collect the shoes on that day. It’s a great opportunity to have conversations about your motivation for collecting shoes!
- Bible studies
- College dorms
- Clearance racks at Target, Wal-Mart, etc.
- Local running stores or shoe stores
- Summer camps
- Rotary Clubs
- Your work place
Delivering Shoes to SFJ
We invite people across the nation to get involved in Soles For Jesus by hosting a shoe drive. If you are located out of state, we don’t want getting shoes to our warehouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to hold you back. We have some transportation ideas to help make donating shoes as easy as possible. Below, you’ll find a few suggestions that will help to get you started.
Contact local trucking companies and ask to speak to a supervisor or owner. Explain your shoe drive and ask if they would like to donate transportation services to help.
Sometimes driving to Milwaukee costs less than shipping. We have met people delivering shoes from Florida, Kentucky, and more. Think about taking a road trip; we would love to meet you!
Also, share your transportation needs via social media, email, and word of mouth. Someone with travel plans to the Midwest (e.g. Chicago) may be willing to drive through Milwaukee with the shoe donation. We have often seen transportation needs met after posting a request on Facebook!
We have found that UPS, Fed Ex, and Unishippers are usually the best value for mailing/shipping options. Consider organizing a special fundraiser or ask for sponsorship to help raise money for getting the shoes to SFJ.
This company offers two solutions to send your shoes directly to our Milwaukee warehouse.
ReloCube: This can hold approximately 1500 pairs of shoes when they are packed tightly in sturdy garbage bags. The ReloCube fits in a standard parking space (providing 350 cubic feet) and works well when loading at most residential addresses.
Trailer: This is a great way to ship shoes to us after a large shoe drive. It also tends to be the most flexible and economical. You can load the whole trailer, or use as little as 5 feet; and you’ll be charged accordingly.
Click on the links above to learn more and to get a shipping estimate.
You can watch a video about how uShip works on their home page. Basically, you post your shipment, and transportation carriers bid on your request. The drivers who see your post will bid against each other to transport it, so you may get a great deal. In fact shoes were once delivered this way for free because the trucker wanted to donate his services and help get shoes to Africa.
When you arrange for transportation, please communicate that shipments should be delivered during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00am-4:00pm. Soles For Jesus is located on the north side of the Holland Beauty building, and the shipping/receiving docks are located next to our entrance.
Soles For Jesus
8835 W. Heather Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53224
Please let us know when to expect the shoe delivery so we can be on the lookout for the boxes.
You can contact SFJ at 414-365-1392 or email info@solesforjesus.org.
Before you start your shoe collection, be sure to get in touch! We will send you information about promotional materials and how to get started. Please glance at our shoe drive information HERE, and email info@solesforjesus.org to get started!
Posters and Collection Boxes
Collection Boxes can be picked up at our location or purchased online and we will ship them to you.
