Families and friends across our great country gather this week for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. So the team at the Funds2Orgs Group wants to thank our partners for trusting us with their fundraising efforts, which help them raise the money they need. Every day people collect gently worn, used and new shoes to fund their schools, animal rescues and shelters, nonprofits, churches, adoptions and medical fundraising. And we’re grateful for our part in their stories in raising money for their needs.
As we prepare to enjoy turkey and foods with all of the trimmings, we want to answer one of the questions we often get asked. In the spirit of gratitude, our answer allows all of our partners and the people who give their shoes to a shoe drive fundraiser to do so much for people they will never meet around the world.
How Shoes Help People All Around the World in Developing Nations
When your community give you their gently worn, used and new shoes, the footwear get consolidated with many others from partners across North America. After, the shoes get shipped to developing nations. One of them is such Haiti—the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere.
In Haiti, the shoes sell for pennies on the dollar to micro-entrepreneurs with limited work opportunities because of systemic poverty. In fact, in most cases, if a person doesn’t sell something in their community, they don’t make money. Unfortunately, jobs are scarce and good paying jobs—rarer still. So many people in Haiti find themselves starting a small business selling merchandise. And that gives them the hope of working themselves out of poverty.
Facts About Haiti
As mentioned, the Funds2Orgs Group sends some of the shoes to Haiti. Further, the World Bank reported a few of the following facts about the country.
- In the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is the most impoverished country.
- Haiti is the third largest nation in the Caribbean, after the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
- 4 million people live in Haiti, and over 6 million (59 percent) live below the national poverty level of $2.41 USD per day.
- 5 million Haitians (24% of the population) barely survive living below the national extreme poverty line of $1.23 USD.
- In the country, the average per capita income is $480 USD annually. And that’s compared to $33,550 in the United States. Also, Haiti has high inflation, making it more difficult for its people to make a sustainable living.
Creating Commerce and Business Opportunities
Another question we get asked is why the shoes collected get sold to micro-entrepreneurs instead of being given to them. Well, the answer’s simple. Our philosophy is to provide people with an opportunity to help themselves out of poverty. Meaning, if we just gave away the footwear, we could destroy the market in the very communities we’d like to help. And that could decimate jobs for people in Haiti and other developing countries worldwide. Also, in some countries, particularly in Africa, local laws and regulations don’t allow for donated merchandise. And it’s because they want to preserve the integrity of local commerce.
Our Partners Are Part of a Movement to Help Others Around the World
This week of Thanksgiving, millions of people across the United States will pause. And they’ll come around the dining room tables to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thousands of those people are folks who’ve joined us as partners or gave their gently worn, used and new shoes to a shoe drive fundraiser. Again, we want to say thank you. What you’ve done—every day of the year—helps so many people worldwide. In other words, you make a difference.
On behalf of the micro-entrepreneurs who partner with the Funds2Orgs Group in developing nations, and our team across the U.S. and abroad, we thank you for placing your trust in us.
We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
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