What's Happened Since Haiti?

The shoe collection is still growing strong! Many people have been asking if I am still collecting shoes since my mom, and I came back from Haiti this past June, the answer is YES! The shoe collection has grown immensely since June. We filled up another 53' semi trailer two weeks ago, and that marked the 100,000 shoe marker. Since having collecting so many pairs of shoes we have lost track of the exact number because it's hard to when there are so many pairs of shoes!

I am coordinating a mission trip to Haiti during a week in March of 2015! If you would like to join us let me know and I can get you the information! The last day to sign up is December 10th, this Wednesday. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to donate shoes! 

Claire Baker

"The Shoe Collector"

Haiti June Trip 2014 - Post #2

I have some decent wifi connection tonight!

The past two days have each felt like they were a week long. They were filled with laughs, tears, sad hearts and big big smiles! We only had two different distributions yesterday.

The first distribution was up in the mountains and we were able to see the sheer beauty of the country. When we pulled up to the different distributions the kids and their faces are priceless. Every single child who was there to get shoes were ecstatic. Again there is no way for me to explain in words how it felt to give a child a pair of shoes other than absolute happiness and peace. The second distribution yesterday was at a church and it was just as fun filled and eventful. When we distribute shoes we have a certain order that we go in. There are three main steps, 1) size the kids feet  2) wash their feet  3) give a child a pair of shoes that make them smile from ear to ear. Throughout the trip I was able to work with all of the three different steps and every one gave me a different perspective. When we were giving shoes out at the church I was sizing feet. Once the kids had their size they sat and stared at us until it was their time to get a pair of shoes. Another woman started to play hand games with the kids and they had the biggest and most gregarious laughs ever. They couldn't believe that trying to hit someone else's hand for fun was as fun as it was! As she was playing hand games with the boys I was taking selfie's with the girls! They loved being able to see themselves on a little screen that they could touch and move.

Today we went to an iron market and saw some of the coolest things! They were especially cool because we were able to watch the men turn iron barrels into pieces of artwork. After the iron market we ate lunch at the HAC, (the HAC is the Haitian American Caucus). We also met four of the women that Soles4Souls gives shoes to directly for their micro enterprise cause.

This trip has been every thing and better than what I could have ever thought of. I thank all of you for helping with the shoe collection throughout the past 4 1/2 years. I have many many many more stories to tell! I will post more pictures on facebook tonight too, if the wifi works. :)

Next time I post will hopefully be soon and I will be back on US soil!

Thank you again!

Claire Baker
"The Shoe Collector" 

Haiti June 2014 Trip

Hey People!!

Well I was a little tired last night after all of the travels down to Haiti, but we are here!!

Today was AWESOME! There were so many things that I want to tell you all, but there is not enough space on this blog. This day felt like it was at least three days put into one. We went to 5 different orphanages today and distributed about 230 pairs of shoes. The reaction of the kids when they get the new shoes are unbelievable, they are so happy!

The group of people that we are with is phenomenal! They are great people who all are here to do the same thing. The first orphanage that we went to today was over 80 girls. As soon as we walked in through the gates every single girl RAN up to someone and grabbed one of our hands to hold onto. It was one of the coolest things ever that I can't put into words. There was one girl in particular that literally clung onto me during the entire distribution. The leaders of the orphanage said that they were surprised that Madyline was even down spending time with anyone, because she is usually very shy and keeps to herself. That comment made me so happy and in a way at peace. As we were leaving the orphanage Madyline ran with the van that I was in until she was not allowed to go any farther. She was so sweet even though I only got to spend about and hour and a half with her.

I will post a picture on Facebook of Madyline, my mom and I, if the wifi works.

I will also try to write the next time that I get wifi which may not be for a few days!! :)

Shoe Collection Update / HAITI TRIP 2014!!!

Hey Everybody,

Well a lot has happened in the past months. I should be a lot better about posting more often shouldn't I? Long story short is that the shoe collection is still going strong! There have been shoes coming out of crooks and crannies all over the upper Midwest. It's awesome to get shoes from Montana, Michigan and there was even going to be a pair sent from Tokyo!

I wish that I could tell you every single detail that has happened over the course of the shoe collection, but I figured that I should keep this short and sweet. So, I will give you a list of some major things that have happened or are happening.

Shoe Collection Keeps on Growing

• We are now a temporary warehouse!
• Soles4Souls has declared me a temporary warehouse...meaning that anyone from around the upper Midwest can deliver their shoes to me because it is the closest and the quickest way to get the shoes to the places that they need to go.
• Many different groups like Lions Clubs, Girl Scout Troops, Churches, Schools and many other communities have brought their shoes to our temporary warehouse.
• We have filled up three full semi trailers full of shoes!
• Next time you are driving next to a semi trailer try to imagine it completely full of shoes all the way from the very back to the very front and stacked all the way up to the ceiling of the trailer. A full semi trailer full of shoes is about 24,000 pairs of shoes!
• The most recent semi trailer fill up/send off day was June 9th, 2014, so just under a week ago. 
• We had 51 people come to help transfer 24,000 pairs of shoes from the storage unit to the semi we thought that it would take about three hours. Well, we were wrong because it only took 45 minutes!!!
•  Roughly 85,000 pairs of shoes and still counting!
• Working at Soles4Souls
• I am currently in Nashville, TN because I have the awesome opportunity to work at the Soles4Souls headquarters in Nashville.
• I will be working with them for a week and then... (go to next bullet)
• Trip to Haiti yet again!
• After working at Soles4Souls I will be leaving a week from today June 22, 2014 to go back to Haiti for the second time!
• My Administrative Assistant (my mom) is coming with me again. 
• We will be in Haiti for a week distributing around 600 pairs of shoes to people who need them the most.

Haiti Updates!!!

I will have access to a computer and internet while I am in Haiti, so I am going to try to post something every night about what we did that day along with some pictures! I will be posting on this blog page so you can check back to see what we are doing each day.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the shoe collection throughout the past 4 years! There would be no shoe collection without all of your help...and shoes [which by the way we are still collecting :)]

Claire Baker 

The Shoe Collector

Haiti Trip September 2012

As I mentioned in the last post, I went to Haiti in September, 2012. This trip needed its own post because it was such an important part of my life.

My mom and I went together (there was no way my mom was going to get out of a trip to Haiti...and the fact that I was not old enough to go by myself). I loved being able to travel with my mom to Haiti. It is something that we will be able to cherish together for the rest of our lives.

While my mom and I were waiting until it was time for us to meet the rest of our group in the airport, we went to get something to eat. Everyone who was going to Haiti with Soles4Souls had to wear the green shirts that came with our travel pack. While we were eating Brian Granfors came up to us in the restaurant and introduced himself. From that point on I knew that it was going to be an amazing trip filled with people who cared just as much about Haiti as I do. When we met our group there were 11 people total including my mom and I. There were three employees from Soles4Souls, David Graben, Kelly Hoskins, and Brian Granfors. That monday morning was Kelly's first day on the job with Soles4Souls. Mr. Graben at the time was the interim CEO of Soles4Souls. Throughout the two and a half years that I had been in contact with Soles4Souls I most of the time talked with Pattie Graben. When my mom and I met David Graben we said, "OH, you're Pattie's husband! We love her!!" Mr. Graben was surprised because people usually say that about Mr. Graben to Mrs. Graben.

The people who were in our group and traveling with Travel4Souls was awesome. I was the youngest one on the trip but it didn't matter. My mom and I roomed with a woman named April. She was very funny and I loved being able to talk with her and my mom in our room at night. We had many laughs throughout the trip. One morning the others on the trip asked if we could try and keep it down because we were being to loud.

Dianna and Jared were on the trip as well. It was their first time to Haiti as well. They were fun to talk and hang out with throughout the trip. Karen and Jim were another couple on the trip. They were strong supporters of Soles4Souls as well. They do amazing work where they are from! There was also another woman, Caroline. She was a very sweet woman who liked to sing "Hallelujah" a lot!

We met Annie when we got to the airport in Haiti. She was our tour guide/friend/translator. She lives in Haiti with her family, her husband and three boys. Annie was willing to answer any of the questions that we had about anything. We met Paul at the airport in Haiti as well. His real name is Kesnel, but he thinks it is easier for us to call him Paul. He was our tour guide/body guard/friend/translator as well in Haiti. Paul was one of the most spiritual people that I have ever met! I think that we would have been very lost if it wasn't for Annie and Paul helping us during the trip.

Last but not least, the Soles4Souls employees, David, Kelly and Brian. These three were the glue that held us together, along with Annie and Paul. Even though they have gone on multiple trips there will always be a special bond with our group. Brian was the photographer for Soles4Souls, he made a video about the trip, with video and pictures. Soles4Souls has impacted me in amazing ways. I don't know where I would be now without them!

The airport was more like a warehouse than an actual airport. After, we were in the buses that were taking us to the community center. The community center was about 17 miles away from the airport but it took us close to an hour to get there. In Haiti there are not paved roads every where. There are not many stoplights or other road signs. For a better way of saying it, the roads are not as well trafficked as the roads in the US. Driving through the roads of Port-au-Prince was amazing. I have never been anywhere that I was immersed in the culture as quickly as in Haiti.

The community center was up in the mountains so it was not as hot as it was down in the main part of the city. The community center had different rooms for sleeping and there was not really a set meeting or living room. The place where I spent most of my time was either on the court that did not have a roof over it because of the earthquake and the flood that hit Haiti. Where we tended to meet was on the roof. The roof was above where we slept and it was solid concrete. Every night there was a lightning storm. The lightning storm was probably the one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Since we were in the mountains, we were in the clouds too. All that we saw of the storm was the lightning and it wasn't scary it was peaceful. What some people may not realize is that Haiti is the most beautiful place that I have ever been. The landscape with the mountains and the cities, and houses that are built on top of each other were crazy! Even though I only saw a little bit of the country I plan to go back and see even more and to see what else the country has to offer to the world.

We had four different distribution times throughout the five days we were there. The first distribution was within walking distance from the community center. There was a system to distributing the shoes. First the kids had to be sized, then they went to get their feet washed. After that they went over to where I was to get their shoes. Not only did we have shoes, we had toys, wristbands, soccer balls, t-shirts and many other fun things. Once they had their shoes we let the kids pick a little toy to take with them too.

The second distribution was at the community center. This distribution was for women only. My job at this distribution was to wash, dry and put the shoes on the feet of the women who were coming in to get a new pair of shoes. To see the smile on the women's faces was absolutely priceless. In Haiti they speak Creole. It is a broken up version of the French language. It didn't matter if I couldn't speak their language I could tell that they were happy and felt special. To be in a third world country and helping out the people who live there is a feeling that I cannot explain (amazing for lack of a better word).

On wednesday we went to an school that was on the side of the mountain. Our group felt so much love and care from this school that we decided to "adopt" the school. We set up a fundraising page to help rebuild part of their school and so they can get more supplies for school.

After that distribution we went into downtown Port-au-Prince. There we went to a place called the Iron Market. What it was was a place where we did some shopping. It was full of different types of art projects, and other things like that.

Thursday we went to our last distribution that was about two hours away from the community center. We also were able to see Paul's internet cafe! After we visited there we went to Club Indigo. The water looked like the Caribbean. When we were finished floating in the ocean we went to an orphanage that was mostly disabled kids. We spent about an hour there playing with the kids and they responded really well to us.

We had to leave on friday morning. I knew that the trip would end but I didn't want it to. I felt like I could have stayed there for months. When I got onto the plane I sat there thinking that I am going to come back. There is no way that I would come back to the US and not have a longing  to come back. Every person that I have talked to has said the same thing.

Here is the link to the video that Brian made about the trip.

I gave this boy a soccer boy and he was very excited!

My mom at the first distribution

My mom and I before the first distribution

One of the many beautiful views of Haiti

In the Iron Market

Our Friend Paul

Some of the artwork on walls off of the street

A LONG LONG LONG Overdue Update

Well it has been over a year now since I last updated my blog. In this past year many things have happened.

In September 2012 my mom and I went to Haiti for 5 days. It was an amazing experience! There were so many things that happened, so many new people I met and so many new sites that I saw that will change my life forever! I will write an additional post dedicated to Haiti after this one but I just want to inform everyone about the past year.

After the trip to Haiti I did not initiate as many collections but the shoes kept coming in! When I was in Haiti the interim CEO for Soles4Souls, David Graben, Kelly Hoskins, the Travel4Souls coordinator and Brian Granfors photographer for Soles4Souls were all on the trip too. We built a very good relationship and they have helped me with the collection and coordinating other events. Since the trip Soles4Souls has named me as a contact for a temporary warehouse drop point for shoes.

The Blake Elementary School collected shoes spring of 2013. I went to speak at their school for one of their morning meetings and their energy was amazing! I do not know the exact amount shoes that they collected but it was awesome to have an elementary school collect so many shoes.

There have been many amazing contacts that I have made other than with Soles4Souls. I now am in partnership with The Sanneh Foundation. The Sanneh Foundation was founded by Tony Sanneh, a retired professional soccer player. Since I have been collecting shoes for so long I have been getting multiple pairs of cleats. Even though Soles4Souls takes cleats, Tony collects any and all soccer equipment.

Minnetonka Moccasins has helped with storing shoes until there is enough to fit into a semi. Soles4Souls is going to send up a semi on October 6th, 2013 to take all of the shoes and bring them to another Soles4Souls warehouse. Minnetonka Moccasins has been an amazing company to work with. They are so helpful and ready to accept any shoes and store them without hesitation.

I am still working with 1-800-GOT-JUNK and it is awesome to have the trucks pick up large quantities of shoes and transport them for me. There help is always loved and appreciated. Another great company that is willing to help in many ways.

Even though it has only been a year the total number of shoes collected has continued to increase. The current total number of shoes collected to date is 50,266 pairs of shoes!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who has ever helped with the collection, donating shoes, or just giving your support. That and the constant need for shoes is what keeps me going!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!

Long Overdue Collection Update

It has definetly been a while since I last posted anything and a lot had happened since then too!

In the last few posts I have mentioned a competition that Soles4Souls had and what it held for the person who won.  I did not win the competition even with having collected 24,000 pair of shoes. On Friday May 11, 2012 Soles4Souls sent a 53' semi truck to pick up 24,000 pairs of shoes!
With not having school that day I had a three friends come and help to load up the semi.
The semi truck arrived at 1-800-GOTJUNK?'s warehouse in Minneapolis that was containing the majority of the shoes! There were about 12 1-800-GOTJUNK? guys were at the warehouse helping load the semi! After the semi was completely full everyone took a HUGE sigh of relief that the shoes were now on their way to the people's feat who need them the most! 

When my mom and I got in the car to head out to lunch after a long days work. My mom turned to grab something out of the back of the car and she screamed!!!! I was scared because I had no idea what had just happened! It turns out that there were still 4 bags of shoes in the back of the car! The semi had already left when we found the shoes so it ended up being the start of a new collection.

I am just fine with not have collected the most shoes and to have not won the trip to Haiti. I would have much rather earned the trip than win the trip. On the way home from school one day Soles4Souls called me and told me that they do not want all of my efforts to go to waist. They told me that "my name had been on their lists for their meetings for the past 3 months." They came up with a new award that they have never given to anyone before, A Lifetime Achievement Award. With that award comes the reward of a trip for two to travel anywhere with Soles4Souls, all expenses paid! My mom and I cried for about 15 minutes straight because we were so excited! 

As soon as I got home I looked online when the next trips to Haiti were! I could barely keep all of my excitement inside! My mom and I are going to Haiti in less than two weeks now! We will be sure to be taking pictures and some video too! I am very excited to go while my mom is very anxious! I wil be sure to update as much as a I can during the school year this year and especially after the trip to Haiti!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT!!!!!

Claire Baker
"The Shoe Collector"

Me inside the 53' semi!

Andy, Robby, Tyler & I

My dad making the trip to the front and the back of the  semi!

The whole crew that helped load shoes!

The 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Guys!

The 1-800-GOT-JUNK? truck filling up the rest of the semi!

Friends of my mom's from work!

I am putting the last bag of shoes in the semi!