El Naturalista Donates Shoes to Haiti’s Earthquake Survivors
3,500 pairs are sent to protect the feet of those who have lost everything and to help them continue walking through life with hope.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Pamplona, Spain – March 3, 2010 – El Naturalista, the Spanish-based manufacturer of eco-friendly, fashionable footwear and accessories, has sent 3,500 pairs of shoes to Haiti through the company’s nonprofit arm, Project Atauchi.
“The mission of El Naturalista’s Project Atauchi is to provide humanitarian aid, and so naturally we wanted to be part of the relief effort in Haiti,” says Mª Paz Díaz de Rada of Project Atauchi. “There are thousands of people there who lost everything, and footwear is a basic need that we could fulfill. This is just the start of our relationship with Haiti, as we plan to continue to help with the country’s reconstruction.”
On February 11, 2010, an Air Europe plane departed from Madrid bound for Haiti with the first shipment of 500 pairs of shoes to be delivered to two nonprofit organizations with a long standing presence in Haiti: Acoger y Compartir and the Congregation of Daughters of Charity. This effort was made possible by collaboration with members of Madrid Rumbo al Sur, a Madrid-based project dedicated to youth awareness and social cooperation.
Madrid Rumbo al Sur Program Director Telmo Aldaz and members of his team delivered the shoes. 250 pairs were allocated to the families and orphans of St. Gerard School in Port au Prince. Run by the nonprofit Acoger y Compartir, 300 children at this school were killed by the earthquake. The remaining 250 pairs were delivered to the Missionary Daughters of Charity. Based in Cite Soleil, the Missionary serves more than 1,500 people daily through their medical clinic and school. Both of these institutions were almost completely destroyed by the earthquake.
El Naturalista made a second shipment of shoes on February 22, 2010, this time by sea. A container with 3,000 pairs of shoes was sent to Soles4Souls, an organization dedicated to collecting footwear from manufacturers to distribute to those in need. These shoes were distributed by Soles4Souls to Haitians affected by the earthquake.
In addition to the shoe donation, Project Atauchi has begun work to help in the reconstruction and El Naturalista will allocate funds to continue helping in the future.
Project Atauchi was created by El Naturalista in 2004. For every pair of El Naturalista shoes sold, El Naturalista donates 1 Euro to the project. To date, El Naturalista has contributed more than 180.000 Euros (approximately $247,000) through Project Atauchi to care for and educate children in Peru and Africa.
For more information on Project Atauchi, visit: www.proyectoatauchi.com.
ABOUT EL NATURALSITA
Based in Pamplona, Spain, El Naturalista was born in 2002. The General Manager Pablo de la Peña had a concept in mind while creating the company - he wanted to create a global shoe brand inspired by nature - comfortable and still fashionable. The final product that El Naturalista offers is young footwear, comfortable and in accordance with the values of nature as well as with its own brand values. El Naturalista is present in 45 countries all over the world with has stores in Helsinki, Santa Monica (California), and in Paris has opened a shop in the symbolic neighborhood of St. Germain des Prés.
Information about El Naturalista and its products can be found at www.elnaturalista.com El Naturalista is distributed in the U.S. by the Ralph Libonati Co. Phone: (800) 437-2526, Email: info@libonatico.com
subscribe to our feed
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading. Be Fancy. Be Green.