SINCE she started her own NPO five years ago, Glen Anil resident, Tatum Teunissen has collected, cleaned and donated more than 1 800 pairs of previously loved shoes to those in need.

Teunissen, who is a Grade 10 learner at Redwood College, said the Sole Mates Foundation was started as a way to help as many children as she possibly could.

The foundation aims to provide as many underprivileged children as possible with all types of shoes.

“This all started in Grade 6 for me. I remember the evening so vividly and it was that memory that inspired me to start the Sole Mates Foundation. My mom and dad had been volunteering at an outreach programme in Greyville and one night they, alongside other volunteers, were giving out shoes to underprivileged children. However, there wasn’t enough for all the children and I could not forget the scene of some of them crying their eyes out. On the way home that night I made the decision never to let something like that happen again and I sent messages to all my friends saying I was starting a shoe collection.

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“I chatted to my family and they were extremely supportive of the idea. In fact, it was actually my sister Kiara, who came up with the name for my NPO. A week later I had packet loads of shoes and the Sole Mates Foundation was born and a little while later I had my foundation registered as an NPO. So far I’ve collected and distributed thousands of pairs of shoes to those in need which is extremely fulfilling,” she said.

She added schools like Crawford College La Lucia and Curro had also donated to her NPO

“Covid-19 did slow down my collection somewhat but now I’m aiming to do a shoe drive at my school. I couldn’t do this without the support of those opening their hearts to this mission. I’ve received huge donations from Crawford and Curro which was so heartwarming,” she explained.

If people would like to donate to the cause, message Teunissen on the NPO’s Facebook page, or Instagram page @solematesfoundation.

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