Be a Sole Warrior: Join the movement by a young change-maker!

‘Donate a sole, Save a soul’. That’s the motto of Sole Warriors, an initiative to support people who don’t have access to footwear. Young change-maker Sia Godika is championing the movement, which won the prestigious Diana Award for social action and humanitarian efforts by young changemakers. Be a part of the change! Learn how you can support the movement by simple actions.

13-year-old Sia Godika, a resident of Koramangala, Bengaluru noticed that some children of construction workers were running around barefoot with cracked soles. This image stayed in her mind.

She then read up how millions of people contracted diseases due to lack of footwear. On the other hand, millions of pairs of footwear are discarded every year. “I knew this was a gap that needed to be plugged”, says Sia. And Sole Warriors was born, furthering the Sustainable Development Goal 3 – Good Health and Well-being.

It started off as a dinner table discussion, where Sia and her family decided they wanted to do something about it. So they scoured the house and found some unused footwear in good condition and gave it to some labourers nearby.

A simple action can spawn off a powerful movement! Sia reached out to people in neighbouring areas to donate footwear for the cause. Soon, the word spread and several people started contacting her to be a part of the movement. There was no looking back.

Young change-maker Sia Godika, founder of Sole Warriors

Sole Warriors has led to the collection and donation of 15,000 shoes!

“I was heartened by how people came forward to help”, beams Sia, “A generous person even donated 1000 new pairs of school shoes!”

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Getting ready for a Sole Warriors donation drive

The initiative grew to have a volunteer base of 50 members, along with many more supporting local champion drives.

Rachana, an avid supporter of social and leadership initiatives and Raj, a vegan plogger who is a human catalyst connecting the green dots, mentored and supported Sia through the Sole Warriors journey and helped her maximise impact.

Collaborations with various citizen volunteer groups in Bengaluru like Robinhood Army, Ploggers Army, Rotary, Rotaract, Swetcha Foundation and IIT Roorkee Alumni provided a great network of support and expanded the reach of the movement.

Sole Warriors has a flourishing Bangalore chapter and is expanding into Mumbai, Pune and Chennai, where more volunteers are needed to make it happen.

Sia Godika was recognised with the prestigious Diana Award for the Sole Warriors initiative. That was just the beginning. The award opened doors and connected her with young change-makers in England and Africa, where the Sole Warriors initiative is spreading its wind!

That’s the story of Sole Warriors, but the story is still being written; will you be a part of it? Learn how.

Here is how YOU can contribute to the Sole Warriors initiative

Become a Sole Warrior! Join the cause of protecting the feet of the underprivileged by donating footwear, donating funds and/or volunteering your time, effort, knowledge and ideas. Contact Sole Warriors to know how!
Become a Sole Warrior Champion. Lead a footwear collection drive in your community and bring change at the grassroots level.
Become a Sole Warrior Ambassador. Spread the message about the initiative and inspire people to join our cause.
Become a Sole Warrior Connector. Connect us with people who can donate and with people who need footwear.
Connect us with any individual, organisation or community group willing to support our initiative.
Sole Warriors has picked up in Bengaluru and is being established in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai, but they all need your help to grow and make an impact on more souls. Support the growth of your local chapter!
Start a Sole Warriors chapter in your city! Sole Warriors will provide you with all the necessary guidance and support.
Join the Share and Care community group on GoGreenGuru to connect with like-minded people and make a difference.

How a Sole Warriors Drive works

We identify a residential community or organisation that is willing to organise a footwear donation drive. You can take the initiative to be a Sole Warrior Champion in your residential area and run a drive too!
We promote the drive among the community and neighbouring areas through posters, social media, WhatsApp, etc.
We educate people about the guidelines for footwear donation. (link to next section)
We place designated boxes in common areas of the community and people place their footwear in those boxes.
The footwear will be picked up by our volunteers and stored at our warehouse. Saahas electric vehicles are used to minimise the carbon footprint during transport.
People of marginalised groups are employed to sort and clean the footwear, which gives them a livelihood.
We connect with cobblers who repair footwear when required, also supporting their livelihood. We collaborate with organisations like Pressto Cobblers.
People from marginalised groups are given some footwear to sell. We support these solopreneurs on their journey to be self-sufficient.
We collaborate with citizen voluntary groups and organisations like the Robinhood Army and identify places where people are in need of footwear.
We organise footwear donation drives at these communities and spread smiles 🙂