PR Newswire

Finish Line to Donate 92,500 Pairs of Shoes and $100,000 to Soles4Souls

by Impact Wire Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The Finish Line, Inc., one of the nation's leading athletic footwear and apparel retailers, today announced that through its “Sole Destination” program, approximately 92,500 pairs of gently used shoes will be donated to Soles4Souls, a charitable organization that distributes shoes free of charge to people in need throughout the world. In addition to collecting the shoes at its 679 retail stores and its corporate and distribution facilities, Finish Line has matched the donation of each pair with a $1 corporate contribution to Soles4Souls, totaling $92,500, to assist the charity with shipping and distribution costs.

“We are pleased with the results of the ‘Sole Destination’ program and sincerely gratified by how generous our customers and employees have been in donating shoes to this effort,” said Finish Line Senior Vice President of Marketing Kevin Flynn. “Still, we set a goal to donate $100,000 and we fell a bit short. More awareness is needed to push us to our goal so that we can help the 300 million people worldwide that Soles4Souls estimates are without shoes today.”

To drive additional awareness and reach the $100,000 donation goaI, Finish Line is launching a campaign on Twitter. Throughout the “Sole Destination” initiative, which began in June, Finish Line has engaged Twitter to keep followers up-to-date on the number of pairs collected as part of the “Sole Destination” program. Beginning today, Nov. 4, through Nov. 15, Finish Line will donate $1 to Soles4Souls for each new Twitter follower up to 7,500 new followers. Visit the Finish Line Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/theFinishLine. The additional $7,500 donation will allow Finish Line to meet its donation goal of $100,000 to Soles4Souls.

People and companies interested in donating or learning more about Soles4Souls can visit the organization’s website at www.giveshoes.org.

About Finish Line
The Finish Line, Inc. is a premium athletic footwear store and one of the nation's largest mall-based specialty retailers, offering a deep selection of performance and sport-style footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids. The Finish Line, Inc. is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol FINL. The company operates 679 Finish Line stores in 47 states and online at www.finishline.com.

About Soles4Souls®, Inc.
Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 5.5 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 9 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States. Soles4Souls has been featured in Runner's World, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic’s Green Guide and The New York Times. It has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC, CNN and thousands of regional news outlets across North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Anyone can join our cause, and we need your help. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

Contact
Anne Roman
On behalf of Finish Line
419-724-9900

Elizabeth Kirk
Soles4Souls
615-391-5723, elizabethk@giveshoes.org