Christiana Care Health System’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery announced that it recently provided new shoes, socks and foot exams for free to nearly 120 people—many of them homeless—at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, a homeless shelter in Wilmington, Delaware. The event is part of a campaign by a national organization known as Our Hearts to Your Soles, whose mission is to provide indigent people with shoes and free foot examinations. Red Wing Shoes donated new shoes through the organization, and Independence Prosthetics-Orthotics is donating 20 pairs of specialty shoes for people with advanced diabetic foot needs.
Paul Kupcha, M.D., section chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Christiana Care and an orthopedic surgeon, was the local coordinator for the event. Dr. Kupcha said that foot health provides a clue to a person’s overall health. Joint stiffness, for example, can indicate arthritis; tingling and numbness can be connected to diabetes; swelling can indicate high blood pressure or diseases of the heart and kidneys.
Jennifer Baldino Bonett, senior manager of Communications and Marketing at Christiana Care Health System, told OTW, “Our Hearts to Your Soles is a national organization with the mission of providing people in need with shoes and free foot examinations. Red Wing Shoes donated 95 pairs of new shoes through the organization to the Christiana Care event.”
