Maryland Business

By: Liz Farmer

How much do you walk every day? Are you perhaps one of those women who carry their heels in a bag and walk to work in more comfortable shoes? (I, for one, am guilty of that during the warmer months and wear my flip flops everywhere I possibly can.)

Well, if so you might want in on a contest that’s part of a promotional campaign being run by Baltimore-based Warschawski for its client GOR-TEX. The company, which makes waterproof/breathable fabric, has partnered with Soles4Souls, a charity that provides shoes to people in need, to launch the “How Far Can One Pair Go?” national shoe drive and footwear promotion.

The campaign encourages consumers to donate shoes or money to the charity from now until Dec. 31 at select retail partners or online at www.howfarcanonepairgo.com. Gore will also donate $5 to Soles4Souls for each pair of shoes made with the GORE-TEX brand technology purchased through the website during the campaign (up to $10,000 total). As of Sept. 23, $400 has been donated to the charity.

The contest requires entrants to submit a short essay (no longer than this post) on how far you walk every day. The winner and a friend will travel with Soles4Souls to give away shoes during a distribution trip in June. Ten runners up will get a free pair of GOR-TEX shoes.

Seeing as Baltimore was voted one of America’s top walking cities (I’m assuming that’s because of the Inner Harbor where it’s less likely to get run down by a Mack truck barreling down a narrow city street), I’d expect to see some strong representation here on this front. Let’s show those San Franciscans (voted best walking city) that ridiculously steep hills aren’t the only elements that make a good walking story.