Payless expands shoe giveaway to Latin America

Payless ShoeSource chain expands holiday giveaway of children's shoes to Latin America

• On 12:02 am EDT, Thursday October 15, 2009

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Retailer Payless ShoeSource is going international with a program that provides free or reduced-price shoes to needy children through a network of community charities.

The Topeka-based company on Thursday announced that its Payless Gives Shoes 4 Kids program will distribute more than 77,000 coupons, or $1.2 million worth, toward a pair of shoes in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Those countries are the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia.

The company said it used more than 630 local groups last year to give away $1 million worth of shoes, or 67,000 pairs, in the U.S. alone.

Payless is asking U.S. and Canadian nonprofits interested in helping distribute the shoe coupons to apply at its Web site (http://www.paylessgives.com) through Oct. 30, after which the company will select the charities. The Puerto Rican and Latin American partners will be chosen by local teams of Payless store managers, charity experts and business partners.

The coupons are to be distributed by the charities by Dec. 24 and are good at more than 4,500 Payless stores in those countries through Feb. 28.

Matt Rubel, chief executive officer of Payless' parent company, Collective Brands Inc., said the company decided to expand the program outside the U.S. at the suggestion of employees in its Latin American stores and because the economic downturn has persisted.

"Based on the demand last year, we could have given away 1 million pairs of shoes," Rubel said. "It's startling how many children in our communities need new shoes but can't afford them."

The company is using the charities to distribute the coupons partly to take advantage of their knowledge of needy children in their respective communities and to assist the groups who have seen donations fall because of the recession.

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