A good Samaritan from Taichung City who was unhappy about the way a local shoe trading company threw away single sample shoes, has come up with a novel way of dealing with the problem — he redistributes the shoes to one-legged amputees, and has so far found around 1,000 recipients in the six years since he started.
Chen Ming-shin, the general manager of an advertising company, seldom had the chance to wear shoes when he was a child, so when he noticed that a shoe trading company in the same building was throwing away so many sample shoes that their truck had to make several trips to take them all away, he decided to do something about it.
Chen found the situation intolerable, believing that even a single shoe could be useful to someone, especially someone with just one leg. He therefore set about tracking down his special clientele in hope of giving away these shoes. At the moment he has a list of about 30 people who regularly receive his shoes.
A woman surnamed Peng who lives in Taipei City said: “I used to be reluctant to buy footwear because I can only use one shoe from the pair, but Chen Ming-shin has sent me about 100 shoes over the years. These shoes are not like the cheap ones that no one wants. They are made of incredibly good materials. Now I have enough shoes to last more than a lifetime.”
Chen recalls once seeing a disabled sitting in a wheelchair. The man had one leg amputated and used his remaining leg to push his wheelchair forward. However, the sole of his only shoe was long gone, so Chen immediately pulled his car over and asked the man his address and shoe size. Later on Chen dug out more than 10 suitable shoes and sent them to the man.
On another occasion, Chen spotted a woman wearing a left shoe on her right foot just because she didn’t want to waste it when the right one was worn out. He immediately found a shoe for her, hoping it would make her life easier.
Chen says that when the shoe trading company learned of his mission, they began delivering samples directly to his office.
At one point Chen had about 1,000 shoes in his office. They took up almost all of the office space, and irritated his wife who thought they were dragging down the company’s image. However, she understood his altruistic motives and helped him sort the shoes out according to left and right, gender and size to make the distribution process easier.
Chen says he is happy to find owners for these odd shoes and anyone who needs one is welcome to visit his office at 5-3 F., No. 137, Hwa Mei W. Street, Taichung City. The company telephone number is (04)23176666.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
台中市一位善心人士看不慣當地一家公司丟棄單隻樣本鞋,為了不浪費這些鞋,他想出了一個好方法──尋找只有「一隻腳」的主人,六年來他成功的找到上千位鞋主人。
廣告公司的陳明鑫總經理從小沒鞋穿。他看到同棟辦公大樓內的一家鞋業貿易公司,常將單隻樣品鞋銷毀,數量甚至多到卡車要分批載送才載得完,因此決定做點什麼。
陳明鑫愈看愈捨不得,他認為這些「一隻鞋」還是能物盡其用,尤其對只有一隻腳的民眾,於是他到處打聽,希望幫這些鞋找到新主人,目前他手上就有約三十位「一隻腳」名單,他都會定期把鞋寄去。
家住台北市的彭小姐說:「本來都捨不得買鞋,因為買一雙只能穿一隻。陳明鑫這些年來寄了上百隻鞋來。那些可不是沒人要的便宜貨,材質好到不可置信。現在我的鞋子多到這輩子可能都穿不完。」
陳明鑫說,他曾在路上看到有人坐輪椅,一隻腳截肢,用僅剩的一隻腳輔助划行,腳上穿的布鞋連底都沒了,他馬上停車,問對方住在哪裡?後來找出適合他尺寸的十多隻「一隻鞋」,專程為他送去。
他也曾看到有婦人捨不得另隻鞋,右腳那隻穿壞,竟拿左腳那隻給右腳穿,他蒐集這位婦人尺寸的「一隻鞋」送給她,希望她不必再勉強自己「左右不分」了。
陳明鑫笑說,該鞋業公司獲悉他在幫這些鞋子找主人後,開始主動將樣品鞋送到他辦公室。
他最高紀錄曾收到上千隻鞋,把辦公室擠得滿滿滿,妻子責備他簡直是在破壞公司形象,不過妻子也知道他是愛物惜物,因此還幫他將這上千隻鞋子分男女、左右及尺寸,方便他隨時送人。
陳明鑫說,能幫這些單隻樣品鞋找到主人,他很高興,也歡迎有需要的人自己到他公司來找鞋,地址是台中市華美西街137號5樓之3,電話:(04)23176666。(自由時報記者徐夏蓮)
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