Wichita Woman Collects Shoes to Raise Money for Veterans

The story of Faye Evans, a 63-year-old woman from Wichita, Kansas, is inspiring to those who are looking for creative ways to raise money for a good cause. Evans holds shoe drives to collect just about any kind of shoe, no matter how old or how new, to sell to thrift centers. The money she makes from those sales all go towards making hospice rooms more comfortable for veterans because "if it wasn’t for veterans and soldiers, we wouldn’t have what we have," insists Evans. Please read the following article for more details on her cause and how you can help:

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Source: Wichita woman on quest to help veterans by collecting shoes - Beccy Tanner of The Wichita Eagle

Faye Evans is losing her eyesight to an autoimmune disease. But she’s focused on shoes.

She wants to collect 333,333 pounds of tennis shoes, high heels, business shoes and boots — just about anything with a sole. She estimates that will be enough to raise $50,000.

She needs the money not for herself but to make hospice rooms comfortable for veterans at the Robert J. Dole Veterans Administration Hospital.

“If it wasn’t for veterans and soldiers, we wouldn’t have what we have,” Evans said. “We owe them everything.”

So she’s collecting shoes, which she will sell to a thrift center.

Old shoes. New shoes. Stinky shoes. Tap shoes. Shoes that skate. Shoes that flip-flop against bare heels.

She takes any kind of shoe as long as it has a sole and isn’t a Jellie, “because they will melt.”

She has succeeded in her shoe drives before. Last year, she raised $3,000 so the veterans building could have an aviary, which she thought would be therapeutic “for the guys.”

So far, she’s raised $6,000 to equip the hospice rooms and a family room with slices of home life — sleeper sofas for family, small refrigerators and microwaves, flat-screen TVs, and paintings and wall hangings.

Evans is well known at the hospital, where she volunteers.

“She is passionate,” said Deb Brehm, voluntary service specialist at the hospital. “... She just loves the veterans and helping the families.”

Volunteers like Evans are essential to the VA, Brehm said, because they provide creature comforts.

Evans’ donations make the institution feel more like a home, said Laura Taylor, director of extended care at the VA center.

“Instead of institutional medical equipment in the room — we will have that, but we will also have a headboard in front of every bed, a nice side chair and furniture to outfit the rooms,” Taylor said.

“She is an amazing volunteer for us,” Taylor said. “She is so very energetic, passionate and patriotic.”

Evans’ eyesight betrays her. The 63-year-old writes notes to herself in handwriting nearly an inch tall.

“I feel like I am on borrowed time,” she said. “Ultimately, I will go blind unless I find some research to help me.”

She has Grave’s disease, an autoimmune disease that threatens her eyesight and forced her to have her thyroid removed.

Already she has had to give up some things. Her balance has been affected, so she can no longer ride her motorcycle as an American Legion Rider.

She is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary. She collects the shoes through American Legion Post 401, 101 E. 31st St. South.

Donors can drop shoes off at the American Legion Post or call Evans and she will come and gather them.

She then takes the shoes to the Disabled American Veterans distribution center to be weighed. She gets credit for pounds of shoes she collects.

Shoes in the best condition will be resold through the DAV; others will be recycled, Evans said.

She plans to continue raising money for veterans even after she raises the $50,000.

Next up: $35,000 to pay for honor flights for World War II veterans who want to see the memorial dedicated to them in Washington, D.C.

“We’ve got 700 registered soldiers wanting to go,” Evans said. “It takes $500 per soldier to get them there.”