It all started when Sun City resident Dave Nash lost his wife of 48 years, Rosemary, in April of this year.
“I wanted to donate the shoes she had, which were in good condition, to someplace other than Goodwill. I started researching, and I found Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization.”
Soles4Souls is headquartered in Old Hickory, Tennessee, near Nashville. The organization distributes the donated shoes to those in need through various programs throughout the U.S. and over 120 countries.
Nash shared, “The shoe drive is a tribute and in memory to Rosemary and fourteen other beloved Neighborhood 33 residents we’ve lost in the past five years.”
The community’s generosity was evident as residents quickly donated over 400 pairs of shoes, which were then shipped to Soles4Souls. This successful drive caught the attention of Dolores Fischer, a resident of Sun City neighborhood 35.
Fischer added, “Our neighborhood rallied behind the initiative, showing our unity and compassion. We quickly collected over 200 shoes. Dave shared his heartfelt story at our Neighborhood 35 meeting, inspiring us all.”
Nash and Sandi Karnatz, along with Fischer, requested the opportunity to present the initiative to the Sun City Board and ask to expand it to the entire community. The drive would collect new and gently used shoes to help people in the United States and around the world.
The Board of Directors requested that the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) develop a logistical plan for a shoe drive for this fall and present it to the Board at the September 2025 meeting. The motion for a communitywide shoe drive with Soles4Souls was approved unanimously by the seven directors on September 24.
The NAC Executive Committee plan includes placing two collection boxes in both the Prairie and Meadowview Lodges from October 13 through 27 as part of the communitywide shoe drive.
Each neighborhood has the opportunity to make a significant impact. You can choose to conduct your own shoe drive, and every contribution makes a difference. All shoe drives are requested to end on or before November 21. Nine communities have already pledged their support, and at the time of writing this article, Dave’s Neighborhood 33, has collected 824 pairs of shoes. A total of almost 1300 pairs of shoes have been collected within three Sun City neighborhoods as of the end of September, thanks to the individual efforts of the community.
The success of this initiative depends on the participation of volunteers. You can help in your own neighborhood by collecting shoes or setting up a drop-off point on your front porch. Volunteers are also needed to spread the word, advertise, post, and distribute flyers. Assistance is crucial in packing the shoes collected for shipping, transporting them to a temporary storage location, and delivering the packed boxes to UPS in Huntley for shipping to Soles4Souls. Sketchers Shoe store in Algonquin has provided shipping boxes for this Soles4Souls shoe drive. The Souls4Souls organization offers free shipping labels through Zappos.
For more information or to volunteer to help, please contact: Dave Nash, 847-846-8275, daveroy1@comcast.net; Sandi Karnatz, 847-471-8778, sandikarnatz4@gmail.com; or Dolores Fischer, 847-471-5508, doloresfischer@comcast.net
