Tocci Donates Sneakers

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two white cardboard boxes filled with donated shoes

With the onset of the Tocci Fitbit challenges, many employees have been walking more miles than ever before.

All of these miles have led to many sneakers getting worn down and causing employees to run out and purchase a new pair. But what to do with those end-of-life sneakers, or how about the ones we just don’t like anymore? We decided to find a solution for these lost soles. We reached out to the Tocci employees to vote for an organization to donate to our sneaker collection. We settled upon two organizations and we ran the collection for two weeks.

Nike Grind sneaker donation

Our first choice was Nike Grind, a sneaker-recycling program for our end-of-life sneakers; the kind of sneakers that are held together by duct tape or the ones reserved for moving the lawn. Nike Grind brings the shoes’ life full circle by recycling dead sneakers for a new purpose. Once the sneakers have been ground up, the rubber from the outer soles can be transformed into soccer, football, and baseball fields, rubber flooring for weight rooms, and running tracks. The foam from the midsole is recycled to create synthetic basketball and tennis courts, as well as playground surfacing tile. Lastly, the fabric from the sneaker’s upper becomes padded under hardwood basketball floors. No part of the sneaker goes unused. We collected 17 pairs of sneakers to donate to Nike Grind.

The second organization selected was One World Running. We felt strongly about the mission of this organization who promotes awareness of health, fitness, and nutrition by providing running shoes to those in need throughout the world. At Tocci, we promote similar awareness through our various Health + Wellness initiatives, such as the Fitbit challenge mentioned earlier. One World Running has been sending new or almost new athletic shoes, t-shirts, and shorts all over the world since 1986. A group of runners in Boulder, Colorado started the organization and it has grown into a group of global volunteers. Any shoes not suitable for re-wear are sent to the Nike Grind program. We collected 14 pairs of shoes that we shipped off to Boulder last week!

sneaker donations in shoe boxes

As we continue our various fitness initiatives, we encourage our employees (and you) to donate sneakers to organizations like these that can bring a second life to our shoes and a new sole to someone new.