Federation In Action: Soul to Sole Collects 2,300+ Shoes for the Needy

On Sunday, Federation hosted its first ever “Soul to Sole” shoe drive in commemoration of International Good Deeds Day. Throughout the months of February and into March Federation worked with over a dozen local community partners to collect new and gently used shoes for people in need. Many local synagogues, schools, and Jewish community organizations all pitched in to spread the word and collect shoes! All in all, over 2,300 pairs of shoes were collected for Soul to Sole! The level of inter-organizational cooperation demonstrated by all of our community partners is proof positive that together, WE do extraordinary things!

Once all the shoes had been collected, scores of volunteers came out on Sunday morning to the JCC to help sort, clean, and package the shoes for distribution. We were thrilled to host a large delegation of Israel Scouts from “Tzofim Shevet Galim”. The Tzofim were instrumental in the day’s work, and their enthusiasm for volunteerism was an inspiration to the rest of the volunteers. Two Scouts, Zoey Schaffer and Evan Cohn said that participating in Soul to Sole “was really fun” and they were inspired to help when they heard that there were kids their age who don’t have shoes of their own. Instilling this kind of philanthropic spirit in our youth ensures that l’dor va’dor we will have a vibrant, caring, and connected Jewish Community in San Diego. 

An enormous “thank you” is due to all the volunteer committee comprised of Samantha Cohen, Belinda Feldman, Ronnie Diamond, Maya Kanarek, Rashel Galicot, Britney Ewing, Ron Zollman, Ilana Podolsky, Karen DePodesta, Karen Jinich, and Judy Lilienthal. It was, in large part, because of their efforts that Soul to Sole was so successful.