To Whom This Pair of Running Shoe May Come–Prelude

Just before Typhoon Yolanda happened I was collecting my family’s pre-loved items so that I can donate them to a set of friends who are raising funds that will be used for their outreach programs.  However for some reasons (that I partly blame to my hopeless overloaded schedule) I was not able to finish collecting the items for donation.  I was so disappointed and I remember scolding myself for several days.

You see I love donating pre-loved items though most of the time I asked the recipients not to announce it publicly (and so do with the other small charities that I do).  Donating usable stuff that you no longer need is beneficial in two ways.  First, it enables you to do a small act of charity plus it also gives you the chance to spend time cleaning out and disposing useful things in a meaningful manner.

For some reasons my family has this mysterious way of accumulating lots of clothing and personal stuff (and not to boast most of them are of good quality and brands).  But no! - we do not buy them all.  Most of them are gifts from relatives and friends.  Anyway I think this clothing accumulation is normal because me and husband are both working and need to dress up most of the time plus that we have two rapidly growing kids.

Anyway going back to the unfinished collection of pre-loved stuff (1st paragraph). I continued  collecting miscellaneous items that we no longer need from our family stuff.  My thought is that I would have a ready batch to send to anybody who will need them.  Then came Typhoon Yolanda… I did not think twice. 

But here’s one secret that I would like to share and I hope that you will not judge me for this.  In spite of my not having problem on letting go of my personal stuff even some of them have  sentimental values, there are particular stuff that I can’t let go – my running gears. Particularly my running shoes. 

They are not extra-ordinary nor the most expensive pairs.  But no matter how old and worn out my running shoes are I don’t give them away.  I wear them till it almost beg me to throw them away.  When a new pair came and the other pairs are still wearable, they just stay in my shoe cabinet.  I don’t know why but I won’t and can’t give them away.

That is why it was such a wonder for me when while I was cleaning my shoe cabinet, I suddenly picked some pairs and consider the thought of including them among the items that I continuously collecting for donation to Typhoon Yolanda victims.


Will I or will I not let these pairs go?  To be continued…