Soles4Souls: Distributing Shoes and Clothing to People in Need Since 2004

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Soles4Souls is a global non-profit organization dedicated to fighting poverty by collecting new and used shoes and clothing and getting them to people in need. Shoes are necessary for working, attending school, and avoiding disease, among others; yet, millions of people in the world lack adequate footwear while tons of shoes and apparel are thrown away each year.

Soles4Souls distributes footwear and clothing in two ways. The charity collects new but non-marketable overstocks, returns, and discounted models from corporations and retailers and gives them directly to those who need them, both in the US and overseas.

Soles4Souls also receives millions of articles of used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, civic organizations, faith-based institutions, and corporate partners. These items are sorted in Soles4Souls' national warehouse system and typically sold, along with some new pieces allocated by manufacturers, to selected micro-enterprise organizations. These private and non-profit companies are contracted to provide shipping, inventory, financing, training, and other support to ultra-small businesses in countries where there are virtually no job opportunities. By creating sustainable jobs in devastated or developing nations such as Haiti, its citizens learn to support themselves and become self-sufficient. The positive impact charity makes is short-term, but jobs create sustained income that passes through the local economy.



Founded in 2004, Soles4Souls is dedicated to the highest standards of operating and governance, as evident in its four-star rating with Charity Navigator. The organization is currently led by CEO Buddy Teaster, who has extensive experience in entrepreneurship, C-level leadership skills, executive education, and non-profits. In the past, he served as president and COO of Executive Business Services, the holding company of StarKart, RTM Networks, and the National Association of Local Advertisers; and chief network officer of Young Presidents' Organization, a non-profit that seeks to develop better leaders and the largest CEO network in the world.