Donate shoes for the homeless and to help people with diabetes

Soleful Caring and the CDA join forces

TORONTO, June 24, 2015 /CNW/ - Canadian rock legend Myles Goodwyn of April Wine is joining forces with the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) to provide quality footwear to the homeless and help Canadians living with diabetes.

Goodwyn's charity, Soleful Caring, collects footwear and distributes it to the homeless. He says: "As a person living with diabetes, I risk losing toes, feet and even legs from complications caused by neglecting proper foot care. Good footwear for the homeless can help them enormously – especially those who have diabetes."

How to help
The CDA's Clothesline program, which collects gently used clothes and household items, will collect and distribute shoes to homeless shelters across Canada. Extra footwear will be used to raise money for the CDA – allowing it to work on behalf of people affected by diabetes, including providing education about good foot care and how to reduce amputations.

Here's how you can give footwear:

• Download our new Clothesline app for Apple and Android devices. You can find a Clothesline drop box near you and join in the app's 3-Pound Challenge game

• Call Clothesline at 1-800-505-5525 to schedule a pick-up or to ask about the nearest drop box or donation centre

How diabetes affects feet
Across Canada, diabetes causes many health problems, including 70 per cent of all non-traumatic amputations (toes, feet and parts of legs) – an estimated 4,400 in Canada in 2015. Further, 85 per cent of those amputations are the result of a non-healing foot ulcer – half of which might be prevented with appropriate footwear and effective nail and foot care. Nearly one-third of those who have an amputation will die within the following year; two-thirds within five years. This mortality rate is higher than almost all types of cancer.

Rick Blickstead, CDA President and CEO, says: "This is a great partnership to help the homeless, including those with diabetes. Part of our work on behalf of people affected by diabetes is to reduce amputations. We have a clear position on what people with diabetes, health-care professionals and governments need to do and we partner with them to make it reality."

About the CDA
The CDA is the registered national charity that helps the 10 million Canadians with diabetes or prediabetes live healthy lives, while also educating those at risk. In communities across Canada, the CDA:

• offers a wide array of support services to members of the public;
• offers resources to health-care professionals on best practices to care for people with diabetes;
• advocates to governments, schools, workplaces and others on behalf of people with diabetes; and,
• funds research on better treatments and to find a cure.

For more information, visit diabetes.ca or call 1-800-BANTING (226-8464).

SOURCE Canadian Diabetes Association

or to schedule an interview with Myles Goodwyn or the CDA, contact: Matt Blair, Communications Manager, Canadian Diabetes Association, Phone: [phone], [email protected]