History of In Your Shoes

In Your Shoes was established in 2008, when volunteer, Fran Davide, partnered with Kids Off The Kerb to pilot the program in 13 schools, mainly located in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.

Fran's employer, Pacific Brands, supported the program, as did a number of other businesses. A group of RMIT marketing students even made a YouTube video about the initiative.

Fran had been inspired by her observation of homeless people freezing on the cold winter streets. Realising that she had 15 unused blankets at home, she saw a way to supply warmth to homeless people and started approaching charities about organizing a blanket donation drive. However, the idea of collecting and recycling shoes soon emerged, since Fran discovered that many people were in desperate need of footwear.

Shoes collected through the In Your Shoes program are picked up by Kids Off The Kerb and delivered to their warehouse in Thomastown where they are processed and then distributed. Importantly, disadvantaged young people are able to assist throughout the entire process, and where possible, gain employment and other opportunities. Once collected and sorted, Kids Off The Kerb organizes for the shoes to be either donated to local Melbourne charities or exported to overseas communities.

The pilot In Your Shoes program conducted in 2008 resulted in just over 10,000 pairs of shoes being collected. These shoes were donated to local charities such as Les Twentyman's 20th Man Fund in the western suburbs of Melbourne, the Fr Bob Maguire Foundation in South Melbourne, and the St Vincent de Paul; while many shoes were also sent to various overseas locations including Ghana and Iraq.