PEAC Health & Fitness supports Ghana, Africa via Athletic Shoes
June 30th, 2011

Since June 2008, PEAC has supported the “Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation”, (PPPF Africa), by collecting used athletic shoes. This year, PEAC’s participation has been additionally supported by the community.

Recently, PEAC made a connection with Charlie Ianni, a resident of Lawrenceville. Charlie is a community-minded individual who participates in many charitable activities. Through her daughter’s workplace, she receives new Nike footwear to utilize in her charitable works. When she received her current allotment, she was referred to PEAC, where she learned about our collection efforts for PPPF; Charlie donated 65 pairs of new Nike sneakers, having an estimated resale value of $7,000.

Charlie’s donation, and others, were picked up by Laura Dorf, a local area coordinator for PPPF. Laura collects all donations from participating businesses, including PEAC, brings them home, cleans them, and stores them in her basement in preparation for shipment. The sneakers are collected via truck, transported to Baltimore, MD, and then sent via cargo ship, to Ghana. Once in Africa, the shoes are sold in local markets, funding education, training and creating business. Through a surplus in crop producing, Ghana farmers are not only able to feed their families, but also lift themselves out of poverty. These farmers have been so successful, PPPF now offers training in business and economics and the farmers themselves have begun to share what they have learned with others.

Charlie’s donation of new Nike shoes will be used by PPPF to bring technology and regenerative farming to the poorest farmers and villages in Ghana, West Africa. The Foundation sponsors the Adopt-A-Family Program, which is funded by the sale of the used athletic shoes. (PEAC currently supports three families via shoe donations.) PEAC has “adopted” one family, the Oliver Febri family. “Through the support of generous shoe donations from our members and community members such as Charlie, PEAC is able to aid PPPF in bringing families out of poverty, stimulating the local economy in Ghana, support free enterprise, and make a positive change to our environment,” said Becky DiPierro, PEAC Club Manager.

Please join PEAC's global "Giving Back" efforts today. For more information about the events please contact Laura Geltch, Marketing Coordinator at PEAC Health and Fitness at 609-883-2000, by email Lgeltch@peachealthfitness.com or visit our web site. PEAC is located at 1440 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ. To learn more about PPPF Africa, please contact Laura Dorf via email at laura@pppafrica.org.