“You can see when shoes show up. Goods shoes are important and one of the number one issues we have in the shelter,” she said.
A sale, which saves customers $25 off a pair of boots when they donate a used pair, has been extended until probably the end of March at Raven Rock Workwear’s Dayton location on Wilmington Pike, said Steve Thomas, Raven Rock’s chief executive officer.
The workwear, outdoor and safety clothing retail store, which is headquartered in Dayton and has 18 stores in the Midwest, was donating boots in good condition to charities such as Goodwill and Salvation Army, Thomas said. At first, other boots were tossed out.
Now, between all the Raven Rock locations, 5,000 pairs of boots have been collected. After the sale, collection boxes will be set up in stores.
“When we started out, we were just trying to attract attention and sell boots,” Thomas said, “but we’re just thrilled what they’re doing with them.”
And the men are genuinely appreciative, said Howard Solganik, a Raven Rock customer who delivers the boxes of boots.
Thomas said Solganik was one of the first customers who asked Thomas what was happening to the old shoes and was the person who launched the donation system in Dayton.
Solganik has a working relationship with the shelter as founder of TransPlant Project, a local nonprofit to put disenfranchised people to work on farms and in the micro-farming business.
St. Vincent de Paul runs Gateway, which opened November 2009, and St. Vincent’s Gateway for women and families, according to Lesniak.
As for Kevin Massie, a shelter client, he found boots he was looking for in his size on March 16.
“I need a pair of work boots just for any construction and cleanups,” said Massie, one of 200 men at Gateway.
Contact this reporter at levingston.2@wright.edu.
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