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Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

It only takes one person to make an impact and help change the world. Will you be one?

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Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

Ruben's Shoes: I AM ONE

It only takes one person to make an impact and help change the world. Will you be one?

It only takes one person to make an impact and help change the world. Will you be one?

It only takes one person to make an impact and help change the world. Will you be one?

It only takes one person to make an impact and help change the world. Will you be one?

Kelly Strongitharm
Kelly Strongitharm
Kelly Strongitharm
Kelly Strongitharm
1 Campaign |
Port Moody, Canada
$15,223 USD $15,223 USD 233 backers
109% of $13,906 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

At Ruben’s Shoes we collect gently used shoes and give them to people in need. In countries like the Dominican Republic, without shoes kids can’t go to school. Millions of children around the world right now are currently not in school simply because they don't have the means, like owning even one pair of shoes.

Imagine if a pair of your shoes could give a child an education? Imagine how that education would change the future for that child?

We give a pair of shoes a second life which gives people in other countries a chance at a new beginning.

Ruben
This all started with a boy, named Ruben. Ruben is 13 years old and lives in the Dominican Republic. When our founder Kelly met him for the first time in December 2012 after she had been sponsoring him for 7 years, she decided to start a small project called Ruben's Shoes.


The problem
There are 61 million children currently out of school. Without an education, the chance for a child to break out of poverty is practically hopeless. And the cycle continues, pregnancy rates in young women continue to rise, preventable death rates rise and poverty rates rise. Many children around the world cannot attend school simply because they do not own a pair of shoes. 

The other issue is one of abundance and waste. Last year, Canadians purchased approximately 95 million pairs of shoes and threw out almost 12 million pairs. Did you know that the average pair of shoes takes 40 years to decompose in a landfill? We plan to change this. We've created a recycling program so that instead of ending up in a landfill, gently used shoes can be given to children and adults in other countries who don't have any. A pair of shoes in a country like Sierra Leone can mean the difference between a going to school or not. 



What are we doing about this problem
We invest in projects that create access to education to the 61 million children that are currently living without it. Each additional year of school attended by a child in a developing country increases their potential income earning capacity by 10%.

To date, we have successfully shipped and distributed 23,971 pairs of new and gently used shoes to children and adults in the Dominican Republic, India, The Philippines and Tanzania. We have built a new home for 4 families in Puerto Plata and a new kitchen at our partner school Centro Educativo Toribio (CET). Beyond this, we have created an Education Sponsorship program and we are currently providing funding for the operations of our partner school, CET, in the Dominican Republic. 


Our Education Sponsorship Program
We currently have 52 children enrolled in our Education Sponsorship Program; the monthly contribution given by our sponsors goes directly towards getting their sponsor child to school and keeping him or her there. This includes covering the cost of teachers, providing meals, school supplies and new uniforms. Our goal is to expand our school so that we can open classes for secondary aged children and also accept more children into our sponsorship program.


What we will do with the money
We want to keep growing! We want to keep doing great work and keep changing the lives of children one by one. 

This summer we are planning on shipping our 3rd container with another 10,000+ pairs of shoes and school supplies and equipment to Sierra Leone. We currently have 7500 pairs of shoes sorted in boxes and ready to ship and we are on our final push to collect another 2500 pairs before we ship in July. 


Sierra Leone & The Dominican Republic
We are communicating frequently with our partner Stephen Fomba, founder of Basics4Humanity, regarding the distribution plan for all of the shoes. Distribution in Sierra Leone is set to take place at the end of this year and beginning of 2016. Over the next few months and during distribution we will be seeking out opportunities to invest in education and funding projects to help more children get to school.


Beyond our upcoming work in Sierra Leone, we are also planning on expanding our school in the Dominican Republic, Centro Educativo Toribio. We need to add a second floor to our school so that we can expand our sponsorship program and also offer secondary school classes to keep our sponsor children enrolled in our program until they are 16/17 years old.


Your donation will make an impact.

Just like Ruben is one boy who inspired this entire movement, your donation will help us achieve our goals and continue to get more and more children to school; one, by, one.

Join our I AM ONE tribe with a donation of $5 and help us continue to make a difference.

as a registered Canadian Non-Profit Society we are unable to issue tax-receipts.


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Choose your Perk

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ONE MONTH OF SCHOOL FOR TWO

Currency Conversion $70 USD
$100 CAD
Give the gift of education to two of our students! Your donation will cover the cost of school for two children for one month! We will also send you one of our signature Ruben's Shoes Rubber Bracelet that you can wear and show off to all of your friends!
8 claimed

I AM ONE

Currency Conversion $3 USD
$5 CAD
Yay - thank you for joining our tribe! Your donation will send 10 pairs of shoes to Africa!
22 claimed

FEED A CHILD FOR 1 MONTH

Currency Conversion $7 USD
$10 CAD
Put a smile on a child's face and help them stay focused at school with a hot meal and snacks every school day for one month!
25 claimed

THANK YOU VIDEO

Currency Conversion $17 USD
$25 CAD
Yay, thank you for joining our tribe. You will receive a Thank You Video e-mailed to you with a special message from our team and more information about our projects! Your donation will send 50 pairs of shoes to Africa!
24 claimed

ONE MONTH OF EDUCATION

Currency Conversion $35 USD
$50 CAD
Give the gift of education! Your donation will cover the cost of school for one child for one month! We'll also give you a shout out on our social media that you can share with your network to help us spread the word!
26 claimed

500 PAIRS OF SHOES TO AFRICA

Currency Conversion $174 USD
$250 CAD
Wow - you're awesome! Your donation will send 500 pairs of shoes to Sierra Leone Africa! This means that 500 people will receive a new pair of shoes thanks to you. For many of these people, this will be the first pair of shoes the have ever received. We will also send you one of our signature #ITFEELSGOODTOGIVE T-Shirts!
6 out of 24 of claimed

EDUCATION SPONSORSHIP

Currency Conversion $417 USD
$600 CAD
Join our education sponsorship program and sponsor a child's education for an entire year! Every year that a child attends school increases their income earning potential by 10%. Your donation will make an incredible impact on their life.
0 claimed

FEED OUR ENTIRE SCHOOL

Currency Conversion $535 USD
$770 CAD
Nutrition keeps our students' minds sharp and keen for learning! Your generous donation will feed all 77 children at our school for an entire month.
1 claimed

COMPANY SPONSORSHIP

Currency Conversion $695 USD
$1,000 CAD
Want your logo displayed on our website or social media channels? With your sponsorship we will send you a marketing invoice for your write offs and give you a cool shout out for supporting our campaign and joining our tribe!
1 out of 10 of claimed

Josh Groban's signed shoes!

Currency Conversion $1,738 USD
$2,500 CAD
With this generous donation we will send you an authentic pair of Josh Groban's Converse sneakers that he has chosen and signed specifically for us to give away as this perk! These can be YOURS with a donation of $2500 :)
Estimated Shipping
July 2015
0 out of 1 of claimed

Luisana Lopilato signed shoes!

Currency Conversion $1,738 USD
$2,500 CAD
Argentinian super-model/actress and wife to Michael Buble, Luisana Lopilato has signed and donated a pair of her super cute Converse All-Star sneakers to us. These can be yours for a donation of $2500!
Estimated Shipping
July 2015
0 out of 1 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

BUILD A CLASSROOM

Currency Conversion $3,476 USD
$5,000 CAD
Help us build a classroom in your honour! The classroom will be built at our school in the Dominican Republic, Centro Educativo Toribio. We will honour you with your name on an engraved plaque inside the classroom.
0 out of 4 of claimed
sold out

Madonna's signed LV boots

Currency Conversion $3,476 USD
$5,000 CAD
Estimated Shipping
June 2015
1 out of 1 of claimed
sold out

SHIP OUR CONTAINER TO AFRICA

Currency Conversion $4,172 USD
$6,000 CAD
1 out of 1 of claimed
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