Phyllis Parise recently appeared at a Fox Valley sustainability event promoting donations to Jolly Old Soles. (Photo by Jack McCarthy / Chronicle Media).

When Dr. Phyllis Parise and Kathy Ruggio served as tutors at an Aurora school, they quickly realized that some of their students did not have shoes or clothes that fit properly.

It was very hard accept that students at this school were lacking basic needs.

“The students had shoes that didn’t fit them right or clothes that were stained or too small.” , said Ruggio, a Wheaton resident.

Parise, who lives in Naperville, started bringing her daughter’s outgrown clothes, shoes and new school supplies to share with the children.

With a long history of volunteering, Parise — also a college professor — decided to go one step further in an effort to help more people.

In 2010, she formed Jolly Old Soles, a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting new and used shoes and redistributing them to needy individuals.

Parise said she decided to focus on footwear, figuring that it is something people always need.

Shoes are also something everyone can donate, she added.

Today, Ruggio and Parise’s daughter, Morgan Parise, who often joined her mother on her other volunteer efforts, both serve as board members of Jolly Old Soles.

The organization’s name was especially meaningful, because it is dedicated to giving another life to shoes, Ruggio said.

To date, the organization collected nearly 8,500 shoes. Of that number, 7,387 pairs have been redistributed to needy individuals both nearby and in other states and countries.

“We try to meet the needs of organizations who call with a specific request for a certain type of shoe in a specific size,” Morgan Parise said.

“My mom has always been my number one role model,” she said. “She is very big into paying it forward.”

Shoes have been redistributed to local organizations like Hesed House, Wayside Cross Ministries and Bridge Communities.

Shoes also have been sent to children living on a South Dakota Native American reservations and nonprofits in other states such as Wisconsin, Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia.

Some shoes even reached children in the Dominican Republic.

Despite Jolly Old Soles’ large geographical reach of her organization, it is still looking for new nonprofits in need of shoes.

Shoes are something that many of us take for granted, Morgan Parise said. “But for some people, shoes are not readily available to them.”

Morgan who began volunteering for Jolly Old Soles when she was in high school often sorts

and organizes the shoes which are stored in the basement of her family’s Naperville home.

Graduating with a degree in elementary education from Eastern Illinois University, Parise also has taken shoes collected by her mother’s organization and distributed them to needy school children in the Charleston area.

Students in need of volunteer hours also have come to the Parise’s house and organized the shoes.

When forming the nonprofit, Ruggio said they found that sometimes used shoes are donated, but many used shoes are thrown away.

Parise who also has an interest in recycling and repurposing found that Nike will take used shoes and recycle them into different track surfaces, gym flooring tiles, and playground surfacing.

Each month, Parise drops shoes that do not have a match or shoes that are too damaged at the Nike Outlet.

“Every shoe gets a home,” she said.

Jolly Old Shoes collects new and used shoes, shoe laces and gift cards to stores that sell shoes and shoe supplies. Many of the shoes are dropped off at Parise’s house or picked up by Parise herself.

The organization also accepts monetary donations to help pay for shipping shoes.

Individuals interested in making donations should contact Dr. Phyllis Parise at (630) 456-2348, pparise@sbcglobal.net or www.jollyoldsoles.com.

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Used footwear gains new life through Naperville non-profit —