When looking for ways to make long-term impact in disadvantaged communities, supporting the start and development of micro enterprises can have positive and sustainable results. By starting new businesses, entrepreneurs learn new skills, create jobs and generate revenues that can pull families out of poverty and contribute to the growth of their communities.
- The shoes will be used to help create and sustain micro-enterprise opportunities for low-income entrepreneurs in developing nations. Around the world, millions of low-income entrepreneurs are building better lives for themselves and their families by starting and expanding micro enterprises that typically employ from 1 to 5 people. These micro enterprises allow families to generate income, build savings, and acquire assets as a cushion against natural disasters, illness or death and other crises. These families are then able to pull themselves out of poverty, increase their access to safe drinking water and more nutritious food, improve their housing and educate their children.
- The shoes will be reused, which will reduce the impact of post-consumer waste in our nation's landfills. In the U.S. alone, approximately 630 million pairs of shoes are thrown away every year. The materials used to manufacture a pair of shoes are created from chemical compounds, the kind that will create health hazards if left to disintegrate openly or in landfills.
- The shoes will help raise funds that will be used to support local projects that resource the lives of disadvantaged people in our communities.
You can also donate your gently used shoes at the large orange box located at our Berkmar Campus (675 Pleasant Hill Rd. in Lilburn) at any time from October to December 2020.
