Airmen work to change lives, one step at a time

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lynsie Lorenz
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Two Team Yokota members are working together to make a significant change in the lives of people around the world.

Airmen 1st Class Vanessa Villar and Larry Morris, 374th Operations Group intelligence analysts, head the Soles4Souls program here at Yokota.

Soles4Souls was started after Hurricane Katrina by Wayne Elsey when he saw the devastation that it caused and the needs of those affected. The organization travels around the world distributing shoes to people in places struck by natural disaster or tremendous poverty.

Airman Morris and Airman Villar said they were trying to figure out a way to help the community when they realized there are a lot of people who have shoes that they don't use, and that
there were plenty of people in need of shoes.

"There are so many people without shoes and there are so many Americans that have lots of shoes in their closets that they don't use," said Airman Villar. "It seems pointless for us to throw these things away when other people can use them."

Yokota has only been a part of the Soles4Souls program for one month, but has received multiple donations from the 36th Airlift Squadron and other airmen stationed at Yokota in the Building 703 drop-off point alone.

"If people have used shoes lying around the house, whether it's your kid's shoes or grown up shoes,"said Airman Morris. "We'll take anything you have laying around that you might not be using."

Drop-off points will be located throughout the base at Building 703, all of the schools, the library and the Yokota Community Center during the month of June. After the month of June, Yokota residents will still be able to participate by logging onto the Soles4Souls website and making donations.

"For us to be able to give something that is so insignificant to us and make it significant to them, it's a really big deal," said Airman Morris. "For them to get a pair of shoes is probably just as good as an Xbox or Play Station 3 to us."

Since Soles4Souls began, Americans have donated more than eight million new and gently worn shoes.