An annual event to benefit the People’s City Mission kicked off on Wednesday. The Cornhusker Bank’s’ “One Day Without Shoes” event has proven to be quite successful in the past 10 years. Cornhusker Bank President Barry Lockard tells KLIN News they have collected nearly 190,000 pairs of shoes and almost $90,000 in cash donations.
This year it’s expected that the number of pairs of shoes collected will surpass 200,000. Peoples City Mission Executive Director Pastor Tom Barber says shoes can change the lives of the homeless. “We’re going to impact over 200,000 lives,” Barber says. “They are a big deal. Many of our guests don’t have cars many of the people we serve have to walk around and so shoes are really important to them.”
Lockard says more than 150 sites, including businesses and schools are serving as drop off sites for shoe collections through April 17th. The “A Day Without Shoes” campaign began on Wednesday.
Bank employees joined represenatives from the mission in walking from the bank branch at 84th and Cornhusker to the People’s City Mission at 68th and P to raise awareness for adequate footcare in the community.