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Nearly 500 pairs of shoes on their way to Haiti!!

Thrilled to have a new local connection who has groups traveling to Haiti all Spring! Philippe and I packed up 480 pairs yesterday and will packing more up soon!

Anyone Traveling?

Please let us know if you know of any church groups or individuals going to a developing country and can take some shoes to those who need them. We have a good supply right now and we want them on FEET instead of in STORAGE. Blessings!

Flip Flops on Sale!

Click here to go to Old Navy online and see their flips on sale. These are just $1.49. Watch your Walgreens for sales/clearance and ask the manager for a deal. We have gotten flips for .25 a pair. We are also still accepting any used shoes in decent condition. Please, no rips or holes. Thanks for your help!

Update

We are way behind in posting but luckily shoes and skivvies are still coming in and going out! If you see shoes on sale (flip flops are being clearanced out RIGHT NOW) please consider us and our efforts to get shoes to children (and adults) who need desperately need them. We have shoes heading to Haiti this month! YAY! We were blessed with a donation to help cover shipping costs, too!

The Second Annual Undy 500 is Underway!

We're off to a late start this year (starting instead of ending on race day), but we're going to do it anyway. Like last year, our goal is to collect 500 undies (tops or bottoms) in the next three weeks. Last year we collected 411. Can we reach the 500 mark this year?

Feel free to post this on your blogs and Facebook pages and email your friends. You can also leave a comment on this blog or mail us at flipflopfleet@gmail.com with your numbers, and we will figure out where those skivvies should go.

Thanks in advance for your help!

The Flip Flop Fleet Makes the News!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but our family has grown since we last posted. You can imagine how busy we've been!

Our two oldest kids came home from Haiti much sooner than we anticipated because of the earthquake. Everything they went through inspired our friend's daughter to make the Flip Flop Fleet the focus of her project for school. The following is a report that ran on Twin Cities Live, a local news program:



We hope to have more news to post soon.

It's Our Flip Flop Anniversary!

September 6 marked our one year anniversary and I have to say, managing this from our humble home and with minimal time and resources, we feel so blessed by the wonderful things that have taken place over the last year and by the many people who have done so much for others. Over 3,000 pairs in a year! Here's how Olivia feels about it!

There are a few things that have changed - I simply can't keep up on who is an "official" flip flop "friend" or "fan" and the bottom line is that shoes (and undies) get to the people who need them, so it really doesn't matter whether someone donates 50 pair or ONE pair. I think that anyone who has been a part of this mission in the past year will agree with what this verse says, "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

I am behind on blogging my updates! I promise to get caught up soon! We have some exciting stories to share, including shoes that went to India, to land on the feet of children who have never owned or worn shoes before.

Please keep your eyes open for deals - this is the time of year that shoes start getting clearanced out. Last year we had great luck with Walgreens - they marked their flips down to .49 and when we asked if we bought them all if they would give them to us for .25, time after time, city after city and state after state they agreed. Don't bother with Target as the management does not have the authority to reduce the price. If anyone else finds a deal, please leave a comment!

AMAZING!!

A recent Flip Flopper, Stacie, came across our blog and decided that not only did she want to get on board, she wanted to get her church involved! She set a goal of 400 pair in 40 days. Amazingly, the total brought in was 1134!! This ALMOST doubles what we had over eight months of work. God gets all the credit in Stacie's eyes, but we also know that she was totally dedicated to the cause! Thanks, Stacie, for your amazing efforts and thanks be to God for the many ways he has blessed this endeavor and the people involved. If you would like to talk to your church about a Flip Flop Drive, please email us!

Bra Recycling in the U.K.

(Click here if you can't see the embedded video.)

See? We aren't the only ones doing this! In case you were wondering, the Flip Flop Fleet isn't just collecting shoes. We're also collecting bras and underwear for those living in developing countries. Just something to keep in mind the next time you go through your closet.

We Need Shoes!

Can you please help? We are running out of shoes. I know there are some out there who have a collection of them - could you tell me who you are and how many you have? We have people going to Guatemala, India and Haiti soon and I need your help. We are taking more that just flip flops - sandals, tennies, and dress shoes of all sizes for both genders.

It is garage sale season and I have been able to get some shoes for free (just tell them what you are doing and ask if they are willing to donate them) or for very little. Kids grow out of shoes so quickly that often they are in excellent shape. There are often adult shoes in great shape, too. There was a time where we had a ton of shoes and needed ways for shoes to get to other countries and now we have sources and a dwindling supply of Resources.

Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase won't you help?

Final Counts for the Final Lap

OH MY WORD I am so behnd but it has been mayhem around here with the referral, a baby shower, friends in town for the baby shower, work deadlines, etc.

Here are the final numbers for the UNDY 500. It is kind of a bummer - we were close but missed our goal of 500 by 89. The grand total was 411. Thanks to everyone who contributed! We are continuing our collection of these items, so let me know if you have any!!

Update!

I am waaaay behind here...didn't blog that Old Navy had flip flops for $1 yesterday...haven't blogged our Undy 500 updates...BUT I have a really good excuse!! We FINALLY got our referral from China for Olivia Xiu Di Shelton! It has been a crazy couple of days! WOOHOO! Here she is:I will be posting a final Undy 500 count soon. I don't think we made our goal, but I have a few people getting numbers to me by end of day today, so we will see. For more pictures and info on Olivia, click HERE. Thanks for all the emails on Old Navy! Sorry I dropped the ball this time...

We're Cruisin'

Ok, folks! We got 35 more items in the last 24 hours! We have 28 pairs of undies and 7 bras added! Thanks and keep 'em comin'!! We don't want to crash and burn!!
We have had a variety of questions - here are some answers:

• We will take any decent quality used bras or undies. We have still been receiving feedback that this is strange (the USED part). I will say this again, PEOPLE NEED UNDERWEAR. We are talking about the poorest of the poor. We are blessed to have made some wonderful connections with people who work with and serve the poorest of the poor. At the Flip Flop Fleet, our mission is to serve the poorest of the poor.
• Mens, womens, kids. ALL sizes.


• No to g-strings, but thank you anyway :)
  
• We will take new skivvies, of course!
  
• We will take items from the dollar store (thanks for that tip - I didn't know they had these items) Any skivvies are better than no skivvies.


• We don't need your items sent to us by Sunday, we just want to know your "counts"

I will leave you with this picture. This is what the "mall" looks like in Haiti.

The Undy 500 Needs Ya!

Our count is s-l-o-w-l-y growing...but we need more! We would like to make our goal of 500 items by May 24, race day.

We have received 20 more bras and 35 more undies

Here is our current count: 133 bras and 162 undies

This brings our Undy 500 total to 295 - EEK! Without your help we won't make it! We need 205 more items by Sunday to make our goal...I bet you have items in your own dresser that you don't wear...if not, can you hit the thrift store or Target? Please help us make our goal. If you have items, please leave a comment or email us. THANKS!

More Flips Delivered in Malawi!

Our new friends, Max and Cay, sent us these pictures of some girls and their headmaster at a school in Malawi, receiving our flip flops! We just love to see this! We are grateful to all those collecting and delivering shoes!

Thank you!

The Second Lap...

59 more bras and 76 more undies!

So totals are 113 bras and 127 undies.

THAT means that we have 240 items so far to a goal of 500! THAT means that we only need 260 more and we have 14 more days to do it! Race day is May 24! Vroom, Vroom! So jump in the driver's seat and let's keep the "drive" going!

The First Lap...

First day totals: 54 Bras and 51 Undies!! Woohoo!!

Gear Up for the Undy 500!

Vroom, vroom! Let's come together for the UNDY 500! We want to collect 500 undies (tops or bottoms, if ya catch the drift) by race day, SUNDAY, MAY 24. See the post below if you have missed what we are up to!

Feel free to post this on your blogs and email your friends! Email us at flipflopfleet@gmail.com with your numbers and we will figure out where those skivvies should go!

Introducing...

We are introducing a new division of the Flip Flop Fleet - The Skivvy Divvy. What is this, you ask? Well, it’s an opportunity to clean out your closet or your underwear drawer while helping those in developing countries!

After traveling to Haiti, we learned that there is another great need - UNDIES. A few of my friends have wrinkled up their noses at me when I tell them that we are going to start collecting underwear, but the thrift stores sell them, so if it's good enough for the thrift stores, it is good enough for us. Our goal is to collect new or nice quality used undies and bras of all types and sizes for the poorest of the poor in developing countries.

EVERYONE has a pair that rides up on them that they just don’t wear and EVERY woman has at least one bra that is in the drawer that they NEVER wear. Instead of tossing them, divvy your skivvies to The Skivvy Divvy!

So, as you are doing your spring cleaning, if you come across any of these items or if you feel led to buy some, please email us at flipflopfleet@gmail.com. As always, if you purchase flip flops, please email us so we can add your total to our shoe counter and keep track of who has what. We have more and more people going to countries where shoes and undies are greatly needed. We need you on board!