Shoes For Crews Donates $25,000 to Disabled Vets Fund
Slip-resistant footwear maker Shoes For Crews (West Palm Beach, Fla.) recently donated $25,000 to the Disabled American Veterans National Trust, which is the funding arm of the Disabled American Veterans, an 87-year-old, non-profit group that helps veterans and their families secure federal benefits as a result of their military service.
Susan Loth, director of fundraising for the Cincinnati-based Trust, said SFC's generosity was exceeded only by the rarity with which the organization receives corporate donations. "About 85 percent of our donations come from individual American citizens," she said. "What makes this contribution from Shoes For Crews all the more exciting for us is that it was totally unsolicited. We were not expecting it at all."
SFC President Matthew K. Smith announced the donation during the recent National Restaurant Association’s Risk & Safety Managers Meeting in Seattle, where he said the company pledged to donate $500 to the Disabled American Veterans for every restaurateur who attended a special private dinner held on top of the Seattle Space Needle. Fifty attendees came to dinner, which resulting in SFC's donation. "We work hard, but we feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to own a business and to enjoy some success," Smith said at the dinner. "Not everybody lives in a country where opportunities for self-advancement and success are attainable. We want to give back to the American men and women fighting for our nation who make these opportunities possible."