A Kansas woman bought out hundreds of pairs of shoes from her local Payless store so that she could give them away to flood victims.
Addy Tritt visited the Payless store in Hays, Kansas last week and saw that all the pairs of shoes were on sale for just $1 each. She was on a mission to buy out all 204 pairs for charity, but she knew she could not pay the $6,000 total price tag for all the shoes.
After two-and-a-half hours of negotiation, she was able to convince the store to sell her everything in stock for only $100, which was a fraction of the original price.
Addy's mission was happily accomplished.
Shoes For Nebraska Flood Victims
In an interview with CNN, Addy explained that she plans to donate all the pairs of shoes she bought to victims of the massive flooding in Nebraska last month. She said it was what she was meant to do.
"I'm Catholic and I believe that it's just part of God's plan for me to help people," the 25-year-old graduate teaching assistant said.
"Whether it's volunteering in a classroom or donating, that's what I'm going to do."
Of the 204 pairs bought from Payless, Addy said 164 were for babies, two were for men, and the remaining stocks were for women.
The next thing on her list is to transport all of the shoes she has collected to Nebraska. She tried reaching out to other kind-hearted people on social media to give her a hand.
A woman got in touch with her and offered to help her, so Andy transferred nearly half of the supplies of footwear.
Meanwhile, Andy donated the remaining 113 pairs to the Fort Hays State University, which was also organizing a charity drive.
Emily Bennigsdorf, chapter president of Sigma Alpha Beta Mu at FHSU, said they were surprised at how many people in the community supported their efforts.
All the shoes that were collected, along with water and other supplies, were transported to Nebraska. A local agricultural science program will help distribute them to flood victims.
This is not the first Addy lent a helping hand to people in need. In fact, she has made it almost a regular thing for her.
While she had already made large donations before, the shoe donation was the biggest one she has done so far. Addy said she just has a need to help others.
"If you can help someone, you can't put a price on it. It is the best feeling in the world," the good Samaritan said. "I will be doing this my whole life."
The End For Payless In The US
In February, Payless ShoeSource announced its plan to close all of its 2,100 stores in Puerto Rico and the United States and end its e-commerce operations.
The shoe sale that Addy came across last week is part of the company's efforts to liquidate its remaining stocks of shoes.
Payless' impending closure will be the biggest by a single retailer chain in 2019. It will be nearly double the number of stores expected to end their business this year.
