Soles for Souls shoe drive a success
Jan Parmalee, of Sanders County Public Health, and Jerry Pauli, Thompson Falls superintendent, stand with the 55 pairs of used shoes raised in Sanders County to raise awareness of the danger of tobacco use.
Jan Parmalee, of Sanders County Public Health, explains the dangers of smoking cigarettes as illustrated by a chart.
Last week, Sanders county residents compiled 55 pairs of gently used shoes culminating a four-month long shoe drive to raise awareness of the dangers of using tobacco products and to stress the need for continuing education.
The shoes will be part of a display of 1,400 soles raised state-wide representing the 1,400 souls that are lost each year to tobacco use in the state of Montana. The display will be held at the Capitol Rotunda in Helena on March 8.
The project’s goal is to demonstrate the need for tobacco prevention and control in the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program’s (MTUPP) goal areas: cessation, youth prevention and clean indoor air.
Jan Parmalee, Sanders County Tobacco Control and Prevention Specialist, was pleased with the generosity and participation of community members during the event. Shoes were collected at locations throughout the county, including the Sanders County Tobacco Prevention office, Thompson Falls schools and the Plains/Paradise Chamber of Commerce.
“This project has been exceptionally well received,” she said. “We’ve been surprised that we’ve been so successful at it.”
According to Parmalee, and Jerry Pauli, the Superintendant of Thompson Falls Schools, the project’s success seems to be attributed to the giving nature of Sanders County residents and the importance of the cause.
Pauli has seen his community come together time and time again over the years, and he insists that for a good cause, locals will reach into their pocket books and their closets if necessary.
“Even with the highest or second to the highest unemployment in the state of Montana in Sanders County, we’re giving people,” he said. “They give money even when they don’t have it. People have good values here.”
Pauli claimed that locals could have raised 100 pairs of shoes for a good cause. People are already giving, he said, but after they learn the story behind the shoes they had no problem filling the quota. In defense of his claim, he cited numbers from the American Cancer Society’s relay for life.
“We usually generate about $35,000 each summer, with a population of 10,000 so that’s three and a half to one,” he said. “In Missoula County with a population close to 100,000 do they raise a quarter of a million? I would say no.”
Rural communities, like those in Sanders County, have been especially susceptible to the dangers of tobacco. According to the MTUPP, Montana men are twice as likely to use smokeless tobacco as their counterparts throughout the country.
“You can’t dispute that 1,400 people die each year in Montana from tobacco use and for every one of those, there is about another 10 people that have chronic diseases,” Parmalee said. “1400 people, that’s like wiping out Thompson Falls and Trout Creek every year.”
To put those numbers in perspective, Parmale explained that nationwide, smoking alone kills more people each year than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined.
In addition to her professional duty, Parmalee has personal interest in her cause. As a self-proclaimed “tobacco orphan,” Parmalee lost both her parents to tobacco use. Her mother died of lung cancer and her father a stroke.
Members of reACT Against Corporate Tobacco, the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program’s Youth Empowerment Program, will be helping with the display and educating viewers about its purpose. After the event, MTUPP will provide thank-you cards with a picture of the event to those that have donated shoes.
The 1400 Soles For Souls Project will be a traveling display after March 8th and is scheduled to be in Sanders County sometime later this summer.
The shoes will eventually be donated to those in need.