Shoes for Crews Recipient of Whole Planet Foundation 2020 Trailblazer Award
Each year, Whole Planet Foundation honors a trailblazer advocate who supports our mission and fosters their own.
Shoes for Crews has been a proud supporter of Whole Planet Foundation since 2009 and has generously donated over $220,000 to help alleviate poverty. For every pair of slip resistant shoes that Whole Foods Market Team Members purchase through Shoes for Crews, $1 is donated to Whole Planet Foundation. Shoes for Crews was chosen as this year’s recipient of the 2020 Trailblazer Award not only for their generous giving, but also for going above and beyond to engage employees in the Foundation’s mission.
In 2019, Shoes for Crews marketing leadership met microcredit clients funded by Whole Planet Foundation in the Miami area to get a first-hand look at the opportunities that their generosity helps create. This experience led to a series of promotions including a 2019 branded shoelace campaign where Shoes for Crews donated the equivalent of the average first microloan in the name of five Team Members. Then in 2020, Shoes for Crews doubled their usual donation on March 8 & 9 in honor of International Women’s Day. Shoes for Crews sponsored the Whole Planet Foundation Virtual 5K in June 2020 and are on board once again as a sponsor of our Party with a Purpose Online Auction, helping us celebrate 15 years of alleviating poverty.
“Through our alignment and collective efforts with Whole Planet Foundation and Whole Foods Market’s Asset Protection team, we are able to ensure Team Member Safety and mitigate global poverty through microcredit loans, improving people’s lives all around the world. Shoes For Crews is honored and extremely proud to share this special relationship with Whole Planet Foundation. We are humbled and grateful for the opportunity and the award,” says Chris Hamilton, Vice President of Sales, Shoes for Crews.
Because microcredit loans are repaid, then re-loaned again, the impact of Shoes for Crews’ generosity has been tremendous. Due to this sustainable nature of microcredit, the approximate value of loans supported by Shoes for Crews is over $707,000. Whole Planet Foundation estimates that as of September 2020, more than 2,800 microloans have been funded by Shoes for Crews, creating over 15,400 opportunities for entrepreneurs and their family members to lift themselves out of poverty through entrepreneurship.
Learn more at wholeplanetfoundation.org.
