Rose Paving executives and crews teamed up to pave a new lot for nonprofit Share Your Soles
The Rose Paving culture is built on the foundation of giving back to the community. For over twenty years, our team has come together on Founder’s Day to provide paving services for an organization in need. This year, on October 19th, CEO Ed Campbell, Vice President Tim Chimack, Chief Operating Officer Chris Tanner, Regional Account Executive Kevin Tiernan and dozens of other members of the Rose Paving team got their boots dirty to help make a difference for people all over the world by providing a brand new parking lot for Share Your Soles
Share Your Soles is a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to donating shoes to men, women and children all over the world. We’ve been honored to work with them over the years by hosting annual shoe drives, but when we learned that the lot at their headquarters needed to be removed and replaced, we jumped at the chance to give back in our own special way.
Why We Love Share Your Soles
Share Your Soles was founded by Mona Purdy after she was traveling through Central America and saw how many children were in desperate need of shoes. When she returned home to Chicago, Purdy visited neighborhood schools and began asking families to donate shoes their children had outgrown. Once she had collected enough, she brought them herself to an orphanage in Honduras. What started out as one good deed turned into a global movement that spread faster than Purdy could have imagined.
Over 15 years ago, Rose Paving Director of Human Resources Alisa Marks saw an article in Chicago Magazine about Share Your Soles, and knew it was something she wanted to help support. “I ripped it out of the magazine, put it on my desk and said ‘one day I’m going to help this woman.’” Shortly after, Marks got involved in Rose Paving’s philanthropy committee, organized the first fundraiser and kicked off a long-standing relationship that incorporated the entire Rose Paving team.
Today, Share Your Soles operates shoe collections across the country. In addition to their Chicago processing center, they have drop sites that accept donations all over the United States They work with church groups, scout troops, civic organizations and schools to invite volunteers to their processing center and to co-host shoe drives all over the United States. Their generosity and resolve has only grown with their expansion. Since 1999, Share Your Soles has given over two million pairs of shoes to people who need them all over the world.
Founder’s Day 2017
When Share Your Soles recently moved into a new location, their parking was in disrepair to a degree that it was hurting their operations: people who wanted to drop off shoes were forced to navigate potholes and broken asphalt. Not only was it a safety hazard, it hindered donors from accessing the property.
In a typical year, Rose Paving will donate more than $100,000 in time, materials, labor, equipment and monetary contributions to a range of organizations that serve the cities where we have offices and beyond. In any given week, you’ll find our staff preparing and serving dinner at Ronald McDonald Houses, participating in shoe or coat drives or working with our charitable partners to make a difference.
When the team heard that Share Your Soles was in need of Rose Paving services, we knew it was the perfect project for our annual Founder’s Day. We believe that relationships are essential to any project—paving, philanthropic or both—and we’re proud to have built strong bonds with many organizations over the years.
Thank you for having us, Share Your Soles. We couldn’t imagine celebrating Founder’s Day without you.
Terry Smith is the Chief Operating Officer at Rose Paving and a seasoned expert in the paving industry. With decades of hands-on experience, he leads operations with a focus on quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
