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.