Help us collect 1 million pairs of shoes for kids in Darfur!

What: National shoe drive kickoff

When: Saturday, August 23, 12 pm

Where: CANDLES Holocaust Museum, 1532 S. Third St., Terre Haute, Indiana

Holocaust Survivor and Basketball Player Team Up to Collect Shoes for Darfur

Sixty-four years ago, Eva Mozes Kor arrived at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp, a prisoner and subject of Dr. Mengele’s infamous experiments on twins. Within four months, the shoes she arrived in had fallen apart from walking the vast grounds of the camp where so many of her fellow Jewish prisoners perished in the Nazi genocide.

In 1984, Kor founded CANDLES, an organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Mengele Twins. In that same year, a nine-year-old boy in Nigeria was given a pair of shoes by an American tourist. It was the first pair of shoes Manny Ohonme had ever owned in his life. That gift would eventually provide the way for Manny to come to America on a basketball scholarship.

Now, Kor and Ohonme are teaming up to help collect 1 million pairs of shoes for impoverished children in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan. Both will appear at the national shoe drive kick off on Saturday, August 23 at 12 pm at CANDLES Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Kor said of her experience in Auschwitz, “Many of you couldn’t help me—you did not know me, perhaps you were not born yet, and Auschwitz did not permit any helping of victims. I tied my shoes with rags so I could walk. Today, you know about the tragedy of many kids in Darfur and other places where children need shoes. Please help me now, in the memories of those we lost in the Holocaust, and to honor the families and friends we have created. Give a pair of shoes, remember or honor a loved one, and change a life.”

Ohonme is the founder and CEO of Samaritan’s Feet, a charity dedicated to collecting 10 million pairs of shoes in 10 years for impoverished children. The organization’s slogan is “Give a shoe. Change a life,” just as Ohonme’s life was changed by the gift of a pair of shoes.

Samaritan’s Feet and CANDLES advise people to donate new athletic shoes only, and people need not spend lots of money for designer shoes. For those who do not have the time to purchase shoes, donations for shoes can be made through the Samaritan’s Feet website, www.samaritansfeet.org. The organizations are trying to enlist the help of shoe companies, business, schools, individuals, synagogues, churches, or stores who would sponsor the drive and/or donate shoes. The shoes will be collected at dropoff points throughout the country and distributed in Darfur periodically during the campaign.

All of Kor’s family except for her twin sister Miriam was killed during the Holocaust. Kor has already purchased seven pairs of shoes and inscribed them with the names of her parents, sisters, and children. The memorial shoes will be worn by children in Darfur, many of whom have faced the deaths of family members as the government of Sudan wages genocide against them. Kor’s son Alex, a podiatrist in Washington, DC, will be at the press conference on August 23, along with his father Michael Kor, also a Holocaust survivor.

For more information visit www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org.

For interviews, contact:

Eva Kor, evakor@abcs.com

812-232-6044 or 812-232-6015 or 812-249-0506

Manny Ohonme, manny@samaritansfeet.org

Alex Kor, akisok15@hotmail.com

571-218-2066

CANDLES HolocaustMuseum

Kiel Majewski, Museum Coordinator

kiel@candlesholocaustmuseum.org

812-234-7881