Cowichan Valley Running is pleased to announce its partnership with ShuGuy Ministries.
ShuGuy Ministries is a grass roots, volunteer-operated not-for-profit charity with a very simple mandate—provide quality new or gently used shoes to homeless people on Vancouver Island.
One cold day in February, Will Chambers, a healthcare worker in Parksville, noticed a homeless gentleman wearing shoes providing little to no protection from the elements. Saddened by this, Will took it upon himself to go buy a new pair of shoes for this man. Unfortunately, Will couldn't locate him after the shoes were purchased. Several days later he found he couldn't shake the experience and decided something had to be done. He reached out to organizations providing resources for the homeless and learned that the homeless community was in tremendous need of appropriate footwear. An idea was born, and ShuGuy Ministries was founded.
ShuGuy Ministries provides shoes in three ways:
- monthly community pop-up events
- referrals from local community partners such as Salvation Army, Samaritan's House, and SOS Oceanside
- requests from all homeless shelters, island wide
Since its inception, ShuGuy Ministries has provided over 3500 pairs of shoes to people in need.
How does Cowichan Valley Running fit in? Bring your gently worn shoes into the shop, and ShuGuy Ministries will collect them about once a month. Most needed are winter shoes and boots, but your old runners are also gladly accepted. Ideally, donated shoes are in decent condition and still have a good tread.
If you want to help, but don't have shoes to give, you can always donate good old fashioned cash. ShuGuy Ministries is a registered charity with Revenue Canada and as such is able to provide donation receipts for contributions $20 or greater. Donate here.
Follow ShuyGuy Ministries on Facebook to keep up to date with all their progress. Let's spread the word about this awesome charity!