(Not) Our Daily Dread: A sporting feat, for someone else's feet

Soles4Souls and La Canada-based Sport Chalet says it will collect customers' "gently worn" footwear so that it can be shipped to people in need -- victims ranging from those hit by a natural disaster or living in extreme poverty.

With estimates that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes in their closets, Sports Chalet says it wants to encourage donations to the store between today and Sunday by giving people a 20 percent-off coupon in return for their charity.

"We can use the shoes taking up space in your closet to change the world one pair at a time," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, in a press release. "We need more partners like Sport Chalet to step up and get behind our call for action. It's one of the most simple yet profound gifts you can make, because it will greatly improve someone's life in the most difficult of times."

The program will be in effect at all 55 Sports Chalet stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Since 2005, Nashville-based Soles4Souls has given away over 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes -- donating one pair every nine seconds. They are distributed to people in 125 countries.

More information:

== Sports Chalet site: www.sportschalet.com
== Soles4Souls: www.giveshoes.org