A good and inspiring story written by Debra Galant. - Ranya Kelly's hunt began on a winter day in 1986 when she discovered 500 mostly brand-new pairs of shoes discarded behind a Payless Shoe Source store. She took them to Samaritan House, a Denver homeless shelter. There she spied a pregnant woman walking through the shelter in her stocking feet. Kelly asked the priest in-charge why she wasn't wearing shoes. "We don't have any to fit her," he answered. "His words changed my life." says Kelly. "I found out the retailers regularly throw away unsold merchandise to make room for new inventory. So I decided to redirect this garbage." She checked dumpsters for shoes and clothes. Along with handful of volunteers, she bagged the goods, then delivered them to shelters, churches and other organizations.
- I realized that the poverty level in our country keeps rising every year. There are people with needs out there. And then I opened my closet and I saw many clothes, bags, and shoes kept inside then untouched and unused, perhaps because the colors and the styles do not or no longer suit my fancy. I've been seeing some children walking on the streets without clothes to wear. Something must be wrong here. I think we need a lot more people like Ranya Kelly in this country, who have a heartfelt concern for the poor. Not the cheap politicians who pay lip service to the needy, but those who are willing to toil and labor for those who are in need. I think of churches that may want to put up soup kitchen and design programs to reach out for the needy neighbors. I think of fast food companies who may want to give their excess supply to the poor since they cannot use it for the next day anyway. There are so many things we can do; we just need a genuine tug in our hearts to start doing it. And as for the clothes, shoes, and bags in my closet, somebody else is using them now and that makes me very happy.
- I realized that the poverty level in our country keeps rising every year. There are people with needs out there. And then I opened my closet and I saw many clothes, bags, and shoes kept inside then untouched and unused, perhaps because the colors and the styles do not or no longer suit my fancy. I've been seeing some children walking on the streets without clothes to wear. Something must be wrong here. I think we need a lot more people like Ranya Kelly in this country, who have a heartfelt concern for the poor. Not the cheap politicians who pay lip service to the needy, but those who are willing to toil and labor for those who are in need. I think of churches that may want to put up soup kitchen and design programs to reach out for the needy neighbors. I think of fast food companies who may want to give their excess supply to the poor since they cannot use it for the next day anyway. There are so many things we can do; we just need a genuine tug in our hearts to start doing it. And as for the clothes, shoes, and bags in my closet, somebody else is using them now and that makes me very happy.
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