Peace Corps Mourns the Loss of Volunteer

I am sad to report that Sam's dear friend and fellow volunteer, Tom Maresco, was killed on Friday night. Please keep Sam and Tom's family in your thoughts and prayers this week.

See e-mail below from Sam's dad:

All,

It is with a heavy heart that are writing to tell you Samantha’s best friend in the Peace Corps, Tom, was killed last night in Lesotho. It appears Samantha and Tom were talking a 5-minute walk from a local hotel to the Peace Corps compound in Maseru when they were approached by a man with a gun. The man shot and killed Tom and fired on Samantha as she fled. Fortunately, she was not hit and made it back to the Peace Corps compound unharmed.

The details of what exactly happened are still sketchy at this point. We have spoken to Samantha this morning and as you can imagine she is extremely distraught. We have also spoken to the local director of the Peace Corps in Lesotho as well as the Director of the Peace Corps in Washington DC. They have assured us she is safe. She is being evaluated by a doctor of the regional medical staff from South Africa who has been flown in to Lesotho. The Peace Corps is also bringing in a team of medical staff and social workers from DC to provide counseling and support.

At this point the information is very limited and we are uncertain of the next steps for Samantha. We have been assured by all parties she is safe and unharmed. So that is good news. We ask that your keep her in her thoughts and prayers as she tries to cope with the tragic event. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Thank you for all of your support of Samantha.

T-shirts! Get your T-shirts!

Click here to buy your official Shoes for Samantha t-shirt!

They Made It!

The 27 pairs of shoes we sent a few weeks ago have made it to Lesotho! Hopefully we'll get some pictures to post soon.

Run, Terrence, Run!

Our friend, Terrence, repped S4S this past weekend in Boston's Run to Home Base sponsored by the Red Sox and Mass General Hospital. Check out the pic at Fenway Park!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!

We just shipped 27 pairs of your shoes to Samantha's students in Lesotho! A huge thanks to everyone who has donated!! We couldn't have done it without you.

Keep sending shoes and making monetary donations. We're hoping to get the next shipment out sometime in July.

Race for us!

To those of you in Colorado, check us out on YourCauseSports and consider racing to support Shoes for Samantha. Triathlons not your thing? Recruit your friends!

We're Legit

We just got confirmation today that we have been approved as an officially recognized non-profit organization! Woohoo!

Get excited!

Big things are happening at S4S and we want to fill you in about it.

First off, on Friday we submitted all the paperwork needed to become an official non-profit organization. Now, it's just a waiting game with the SC Secretary of State. Keep your fingers crossed!

Second and more importantly, we are hoping to get a shipment to Samantha by the end of May. A Peace Corps employee is traveling to Lesotho on May 21 and has graciously agreed to take an extra bag full of shoes for us! This is great because it means we only have to pay to get the shoes to him here in the US and for an extra baggage fee. Layman's terms: NO TARIFFS!

Again, thanks for all your help, support, and contributions. Oh, and keep sending us shoes!!

Do you know how customs work in Lesotho?

Then PLEASE enlighten us!

And now Denver...

Though they put "stink" instead of "stint" we still feel the love. Check out the ad on KYGO's website.

Clemson Students are Getting in on the S4S Love

Read this article that came out in The Tiger today.

Keep on Keepin' On.

Zen Mama loves us too!

Another Nice Writeup

This one's from FarmingWind.

Go cocks!

USC featured us in The Daily Gamecock.

Even more good publicity!

Thanks for featuring us on your blog, Lyn!!

The word is spreading...

We got a great write up on Carrie's blog!

In Case You Missed It...

Stephanie was interviewed on WACH-Fox 57 News today. Click here to see the video. Click here to read the article.

Stephanie's Going to be on the News!

If you live in the Columbia area, tune in to WACH-FOX 57's News at 10:00pm tonight to see an interview with Stephanie on Shoes for Samantha.

Connect with Us

Become our fan on Facebook.

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In case you missed it...

See the story that WSPA News Channel 7 did on Shoes for Samantha today.

Or read about it.

Hannah's Going to be on the News!

If you live in the Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson area, be sure to tune in to WSPA News Channel 7 tonight at 5:30pm to see Hannah talking about Shoes for Samantha!

Where it all began...

The orginial invite on our Facebook event page:

As you may or may not know, my dear friend Samantha is stationed in Lesotho (Southern Africa for those of you who have never heard of it. Don't feel bad - neither had I) for a 2.5 year stint with the Peace Corps. Recently in her blog she wrote about a track team at her school. Sam was a HUGE runner in high school and at Clemson and the only person to this day who has ever succeeded in convincing me to run anywhere (which is a feat in and of itself). Track season in Lesotho is almost over but she's talking of coaching next year. The problem? Her students desperately need shoes. Sam writes, "The debatably 400 meter track had two mild inclines and was dirt smeared with shards of glass. My students ran barefoot!" After reading this, I knew I wanted to help.

Hannah did a little reserach and found out that, "not only will shoes protect our avid runners' feet, they protect the students' health as well!! A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause. Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected."

So, I'm writing to ask if you have any old running or athletic shoes, if you'd be willing to donate them to Sam's students in Lesotho. Any size will do. I sent out an e-mail last week and got an overwhelmingly positive response, including some from a couple key people who are stepping up to help in organization. Because of them, we have five "collectors" for your convenience. Contact the following people and they will work on making the easiest exchange possible:

If you live in Columbia or Myrtle Beach, SC contact Stephanie Warren at stephaniewarrenmb@gmail.com.

If you live in Clemson, SC contact Hannah Oakley at hoakley18@gmail.com.

If you live in Charleston, SC contact Claire Sparks at cwsparks@edisto.cofc.edu.

If you live in East Lansing, MI contact Amy Bickett at bicketta11@gmail.com

If you live in Denver, CO or don't live in SC at all, contact me, Rachel Sparks at rachel.denise.sparks@gmail.com.

The projected ship date will be May 1, so if you could get your shoes to one of us by then, that would be wonderful. If you want to help but don't have any old shoes, we will gladly accept any monetary donation you are willing to give to cover shipping costs. It will probably be easiest to mail all money to me so that I can get it to our collectors evenly. Also, invite all your friends to this event. You never know when a stranger might want to help out, but they can't help if they don't even know about it!

Thanks so much, Rachel