HAYS, Kan.—A Kansas woman donated 204 pairs of shoes to Nebraska flood victims after buying everything that was left at a closing Payless store.
A graduate of Fort Hays State, Addy Tritt, said she wanted to help others because so many people have helped her in the past.
“I have been so blessed,” she told Hays Post. “There have been so many great people in my life who have inspired me. I see so many horrible things in the news. So many people have helped me when I was down, I want to help if I can.”
Payless is closing its business and liquidating its assets because it has gone out of business. When the price at a Hays store dropped to $1 per pair, Tritt negotiated with the business to buy the remaining shoes for $100.
They included 162 pairs of baby shoes and two pairs of men’s shoes. The rest were women’s shoes.
The retail price of the shoes would have been more than $6,000.
This is not Tritt’s first act of charity and she said helping others is a part of her religious belief. “I really feel I have been directed and guided to help people,” she said. “I think everything is a part of God’s plan. If you can do something for someone else, you need to find a way even if it is a pair of shoes.”
Earlier she donated 66 bags of school supplies to Hays students, organized a drive to collect baby clothes, and also organized two supply drives for an animal shelter.
“If people feel lost, they should try volunteering and donating. It gives me such fulfillment and I want others to feel the way I do,” Tritt said.
She’s sad to see the displacement and destruction caused by Nebraska flooding and feels joy in helping others.
“I just hope this inspires other people to volunteer and donate if you have been blessed,” she said.
The shoes were delivered to Nebraska farmers by Sigma Alpha, the agriculture sorority at the Fort Hays State University.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts proclaims April 7 as Statewide Day of Prayer to help, encourage, and bless Nebraskans for flood recovery.
The Missouri River Basin is catastrophically flooded and emergency is declared in three-fourths of Nebraska’s 93 counties. The floods took the lives of three people and caused farm losses worth $1 Billion. More than 2000 homes and 340 businesses were damaged or destroyed.
