ShoeBox Recycling, Legacy Youth Tennis and Education and the Goodstein Junior Leaders collaborate to Recycle Shoes in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA - Today, local non-profit Legacy Youth Tennis and Education, in partnership with ShoeBox Recycling, introduced a shoe-recycling program spearheaded by Legacy’s high school leadership team, the Goodstein Junior Leaders. All proceeds will go to support the Love 2 Serve – a community program that provides free tennis instruction, homework help, healthy meals and enrichment activites at 4 recreation centers in North Philadelphia. Legacy will also collaborate to kick-off this partnership with ShoeBox Recycling with bins placed at select sites throughout the city. Legacy campers will be encouraged to responsibly discard their gently used shoes at these bins. This natural alignment of sustainability and local youth philanthropy serves as the foundation of a great relationship that will inspire all to change their mindset about the global need for shoe recycling and reuse.

"We are excited to collaborate with the ShoeBox team on such important work, to rethink the way we see ourused shoes, and to encourage our community to give them a second chance in life; it’s making shoes make a difference. The Goodstein Junior Leaders are thrilled to be donating all of the proceeds from this ongoing recycling effort to the Love 2 Serve program and to continue giving back to the community,” said Ben Hirsh of Legacy Youth Tennis and Education.

ShoeBox Recycling is proud to be a for-profit recycler of shoes. They have flipped the recycling triangle upside down and have mastered the most powerful "R," REUSE, with all of the shoes collected destined for reuse by those in need of affordable footwear. They have humanized the process by adding the prospect of finding your SoleMate. Just like the ancient mystique of the "message in a bottle," you can trace the journey your shoes take to meet their new feet with a note in your shoes. With over 300 million pairs of perfectly reusable shoes hitting landfills each year, they are looking to change the way people think about their shoes.

"Shoe recycling needs to become as familiar to us all and as easy to perform as bottle, can, and paper recycling,” said Lisa Pomerantz, Queen of Sole at ShoeBox Recycling. “Our collaboration with Legacy Youth Tennis and Education fits like great tennis shoes should. We see win-win all around as we engage the Junior Leaders of our city to recycle their shoes, ask our communities to support this effort, and help people all around the world with affordable shoe options. Our SoleMate program encourages meeting new and diverse cultures across the globe with the hope of making the world a smaller, friendlier and greener place. Game, set, match!”

ABOUT SHOEBOX RECYCLING 
ShoeBox Recycling is proud to be a for-profit recycler of shoes. Founded in 2011 with a mission to recycle as many pairs of shoes as possible while offering the opportunity to find your SoleMate in the process. With over 300 million pairs of shoes hitting landfills each year, ShoeBox Recycling is looking to change the way people think about their shoes and the need for reuse around the globe. ShoeBox Recycling is headquartered in Fairless Hills, PA. For more information, call 888.482.5754.

ABOUT LEGACY YOUTH TENNIS AND EDUCATION

Legacy Youth Tennis and Education (http://www.LegacyYTE.org) is a national model for innovative youth tennis, leadership development, and educational enrichment programs. Providing opportunities to over 4,500 young people each year, Legacy delivers first-class tennis, fitness, educational enrichment, leadership and character development, and life skills programs to young people ages 4 to 18, the majority of whom come from underserved communities. The Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center, 4842 Ridge Ave. in East Falls, is dedicated to serving young people, the only Center of its type in the country. In addition to its programs at the 16-court Center, programs are held in over 45 schools and recreation centers in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ.