Just in time for the holidays! Christiana Care Health System’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is providing new shoes, socks and foot exams for free to nearly 100 people — many of them homeless — on Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, a homeless shelter in Wilmington. The event is part of a campaign by a national organization known as Our Hearts to Your Soles, whose mission is to provide indigent people with shoes and free foot examinations.

Soles4Souls and Red Wing Shoes will donate a total of 100 pairs of new shoes through the organization, and Independence Prosthetics-Orthotics, Inc. will donate nearly two dozen pairs of specialty shoes for people with advanced diabetic foot needs. In addition, the nonprofit Dignity U Wear will donate 200 pairs of socks to homeless people during the event.

Paul Kupcha, M.D., section chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Christiana Care and an orthopaedic surgeon, is the local coordinator for the event. Dr. Kupcha said that foot health provides a clue to a person’s overall health. Joint stiffness, for example, can indicate arthritis; tingling and numbness can be connected to diabetes; swelling can indicate high blood pressure or diseases of the heart and kidneys.

Brian Galinat, M.D., MBA, chair of Christiana Care’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Christiana Care orthopaedic surgeon Robert Steele, M.D., also will provide free exams to homeless people during the event. Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists will set up the event and staff it with volunteers.

“By providing our neighbors who are homeless with shoes, we help them get more physical activity and help protect them from frostbite,” said Dr. Kupcha, who has volunteered with Our Hearts to Your Soles for eight years. “We also examine the feet of each individual and care for them if they suffer from chronic foot-related problems.”

Hypertension, respiratory illness and foot problems are the three most common health issues that the homeless face, says Rev. Tom Laymon, executive director of the Sunday Breakfast Mission.

“People who are homeless largely have to walk everywhere they go which means that their feet are taking a greater beating than the rest of us,” Laymon said. “The ability for them to get shoes that fit and see a doctor is incredibly meaningful to them. Like putting new tires on a car, you’re retreading them in a lot of ways by giving them shoes and foot care.”

Shoeholics magazine was a proud participant at the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Eco Rock charity event that took place today at The Cutting Room New York City at with proud supporters such as Chris Noth, Jim Gaffigan, Holt McCallany, just to name a few.

Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing and non-violent direct action.

Since it was founded in 1985, the Rainforest Action Network has been working to protect rainforests and the human rights of those living in and around those forests. From the beginning, RAN has played a key role in strengthening the worldwide rainforest conservation movement through supporting activists in rainforest countries as well as organizing and mobilizing consumers and community action groups throughout the United States. For more than 28 years, RAN has brought the voices of the people and the planet to the world’s largest corporations, enabling the type of change that can only be achieved through sophisticated negotiations and fearless action. The Wall Street Journal calls us “some of the most savvy environmental agitators in the business.” We’ve saved millions of acres, shown corporations time and again that they can do well while doing good and mobilized thousands of concerned individuals around the world to make a difference.

Chris Noth and Warren Haynes

Live performance was provided by Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule and The Allman Brothers Band while comedian Jim Gaffigan had everyone in stitches! The event was a smashing success raising funds thanks to a room full of generous donors and gifts donated by luxurious hotels and diamond watches by Jacob & Co. The lot created a bidding frenzy that helped raise funds for the cause. Click here to learn more about RAN to see how you too could help and perhaps to attend next year!

Holt McCallany

Chris Noth and Jacob Arabo auctioning off a $20,000 timepiece

Holt McCallany and Chris Noth

Holt McCallany and Chris Noth during an auction

Shoeholics editors Tinu & Chong with Chris Noth and Jim Gaffigan

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Wear pink shoes and share with the people you love in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Share & spread the word and support your local Breast Cancer organizations working hard to help find cure.

Think pink, wear pink this October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month!

He might be one of the most powerful men in the world, but Sir Richard Branson was the brunt of a thousand jokes a few days ago as he donned a skirt and a full face of make-up on a flight to Malaysia.
The billionaire entrepreneur swapped his boxer shorts for a pair of stockings after losing a Grand Prix bet with AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandez two years ago.
The Virgin boss – who even shaved his legs for the flight – served drinks and pledged to clean the toilets on the special flight – all while sporting the red AirAsia uniform, which included a skirt suit and crisp white shirt.

All for a good cause of course. The funds from the flight went to the Starlight Foundation for ill children. It’s nice to see the best of them willing to go through great lengths for a good cause. Hear! Hear! Sir Branson! You look FABULOUS!

‘I’ve done some outrageous things in my time but this will be up there with the best of them,’ Branson added before he boarded. ‘I’ve just got to practice walking in high heels first’. –Sir Richard Branson.

Visit our contest page to see how you can win a free pair of shoes in our ongoing contest and follow Shoeholics on Instagram!