MARIETTA, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
It all started with a tweet, "CHALLENGE: 150 shoes in 19 hrs!"
The nonprofit Be Remedy sent the tweet to help MUST Ministries get shoe donations for people living in their shelter and for the homeless.
"I asked them what their most urgent need was, and they said shoes. I said, 'great, how many?' and they said 150 pair, and I said, 'let's get them in 24 hours,'" said Be Remedy founder Blake Canterbury.
The nonprofit matches needs with those who are able to give. They do it through social media.
"It's really overwhelming. It really taps into an innate desire that I think people really want to do good, and if you give them one simple action step at time, I think they'll respond," said Canterbury.
Less than 24 hours after the tweet was sent, more than 150 shoes were donated. And it didn't stop there. MUST president Dr. Ike Reighard asked his congregation if they wanted to participate as well.
"What would be a simple value to show that people matter to you. Would you be willing to leave your shoes? We had nearly 400 people who left shoes right at the altar," said Reighard.
Marcia Collier works directly with the people who receive the donations. She knows firsthand the impact the shoes will have.
"I thought this is a miracle. The people I deal with are people that live in cars, people that live on camp sites that don't have a roof over their heads so they do 5 to 10 miles of walking a day," said Collier.
Edward Codner and Marcia Jones are grateful to the people who donated.
"Shoes are the hardest thing to get out here, when you've got nothing else and everything is very well spaced out here, so you've got to walk distances just to get to the store or do small things or looking for jobs," said Codner.
"Thank you. God bless you we really appreciate it," said Jones.
"People don't really think about 500 pair of shoes in 24 hours and something that simple as a pair of shoes, somebody else needs and it literally can change their life," said Canterbury.
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