Soles4Souls deadline extended

Photo: Daniel Hayduk - Castanet

Volunteer Barb Hassard, right, sorts shoes at the Soles4Souls warehouse on Tuesday.

The deadline for the Soles4Souls campaign has been extended, and there is no excuse for those hoarding extra shoes in their closets.

"Every pair will make a difference in someone's life, there are hundreds of millions of kids and adults in this world with no shoes what-so-ever," says organizer Jim Belshaw.

Belshaw, who owns Roy's Shoes, encourages Okanagan residents to dig through their closets and donate all unused shoes.

"Take a moment before or after work, throw them in your car, drop them off at any Mark's Work Wearhouse, Roy's Shoes, McDonalds or Starbucks. There are locations all over, so there is no excuse for not finding somewhere to drop them off -- so make a difference in somebody's life," says Belshaw.

Belshaw's goal was to gather 100,000 pairs of shoes by April 30, but that deadline has now been extended to May 14.

"Last week, UBC-O called me and said, 'is it to late to get on board -- can we extend the drive.'"

Belshaw says several other groups from other cities across the province have also come aboard,

"Victoria just came on board, Trail just came on board, Port Alberni just came on board so we've extended until the May 14. Shoes just keep coming in, so we're going to keep collecting as long as we can."

So far, approximately 30,000 shoes have been collected.

Last year, the campaign gathered 40,000 pairs of shoes in 25 days.