The SM Store’s Share Shoes Campaign helps children take steps in achievingtheir dreams

Caption: A child from Mangyan Elementary School in Bulalacao Town, Oriental Mindoro walking homewith her new pair of shoes from the SM Store’s Share Shoes Campaign (Photo courtesy of CaritasPhilippines)

Shoes are essential in one’s journey through life. For less fortunate families and their children, a new

pair of shoes will allow them to perform their daily chores in comfort and walk to and back to school insafety. Good shoes can also inspire them to work hard – because with a new pair of shoes, they are notonly able to fulfill their daily tasks but are also taking little steps to achieve their dreams.

Since 2015, The SM Store Share Movement has collected over 900,000 donations composed of shoes, clothing, footwear, book and school kits, disaster kits and toys, which were given to children and families all over the country. This year’s Share Shoes Campaign was able to collect over 40,000 pairs ofshoes, with close to 2-million pesos worth of shoes donated by The SM Store and their generouscounterpart benefactors, allowing them to reach more kids and inspire these children to take thoseimportant steps toward achieving their goals.

The Share Shoes campaign invited shoppers to donate their pre-loved or brand-new shoes to children inneed. In partnership with Caritas Philippines and other NGOs, the shoes collected were distributed toOriental Mindoro and other far-flung communities nationwide.

The SM Store saw how important shoes were to lives of the children. In one of their previous donationturnovers: Rich, 11 years old, took a pair of sandals for his elder sister instead. When asked why, “I still have a pair of shoes,” Rich said, “my sister needs it more.”

These are the kind of stories that inspire The SM Store Share Movement to double their efforts in

reaching out to those who are in need of assistance. SM founder Henry Sy envisioned that every Filipino should have their own pair of shoes. It is a passion that blossomed to what is SM today, a company thattakes every step to make this vision a reality.

According to The SM Store, this project reminded them of their humble beginnings, milestones, legacy, and promise to help communities be better. After all, The SM Store started out with shoes and theyhope to be a part of people’s journeys through life through the gift of shoes.

Over the years, The SM Store has conducted its quarterly donation drive from shoes, to books, toys andhygiene kits for identified poor communities and areas impacted by calamities, through its

#SMShareMovement Project.

Find out more about these quarterly donation drives and know how to contribute to upcoming projects,by liking The SM Store Facebook page and by following @TheSMStore on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.