“Our extras are another one’s need.”—Hali Wolf
Hali Wolf is obsessed with shoes. The attractive 40-year-old hairdresser in Seal Beach isn’t obsessed with her shoes, however. She wants yours.
It all started when Wolf went to Jane Adams Elementary School in Long Beach and was shocked when she saw a child with shoes that were duct taped together. They were literally falling apart on the boy’s feet.
“That image struck a chord,” Wolf said. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
The single mother of three knew that her own children probably had extra shoes they had outgrown, and she knew she could get shoes from her friends and clients as well.
When she had 200 pair, she cleaned them up, put in new laces, and donated them to Adams School.
That was the beginning.
Soon, her efforts grew, and she named her charity “His Little Feet.” After receiving 501c(3) non-profit status the word began to spread, and Wolf and her organization were able to work with more schools. She now serves seven schools; two pre-schools, three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school.
That means shoes of every size can be donated.
“I call this ‘stomping out poverty, one pair of shoes at a time,’” Wolf said. Her garage is filled with plastic boxes full of shoes, cleaned and sorted by size. Once a month she has a cleaning and sorting party, where her kids and other volunteers get the shoes ready to be given away.
Wolf works with counselors and school principals to determine need. She and her volunteers even go the extra step and tuck a “love note” into each pair.
Turns out people tuck lots of things into shoes, including valuables. One day earlier this year, one of Wolf’s volunteers pulled a bag out of the toe of a donated shoe. Out fell what appeared to be a diamond bracelet and gold earrings. Not knowing if it was real, Wolf took the bracelet and earrings to a jeweler. They were real, all right.
“He said they were worth about $15,000,” Wolf said. The donated shoes had come from a private school in Long Beach and Wolf began sleuthing until she found the donor and returned the jewelry to its owner.
“The woman said they had been a wedding gift and she thought she had lost the two pieces in Hawaii. It meant a lot to her to realize they had not been lost, after all.”
His Little Feet has a Back-to-School Shoe drive starting Aug. 1. Their greatest need is tennis shoes, and any donations of new tennis shoes is welcomed, although “gently worn” are fine. Any type, or size, of shoe is appreciated, as long as they are in fairly good condition. She also takes donations of school uniforms.
Any local donations for His Little Feet may be dropped off at The Sun office, 216 Main St. in Seal Beach. For more information call Wolf at 562-397-0370.
