• June 23, 2008

Soles4Souls, a shoe-industry charity that arranges for new shoes for disaster victims, says it will send 25,000 pairs of shoes to flood victims in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana by Friday.

The group is also working with its partner companies to get more shoes. "We need individuals, shoe retailers, and footwear brands to dig deep into their closets and stockrooms to help us," the group, at giveshoes.org, says in a release. "Flood water ruins everything it comes into contact with, and trying to rebuild communities without decent shoes is next to impossible."

--Sarah Mahoney