(April 26, 2010) NEW ORLEANS, LA. – On Monday, April 26th, Volatile Footwear presented NOAHH with a check for $23,000 from the sale of the Fleur de Lis collection. This donation brings the total donated from sales of the Fleur de Lis collection to just over $40,000.
In 2007, Volatile Footwear, a division of Palos Verdes Footwear, announced that a portion of the proceeds from their Fleur de Lis collection would be donated to New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH). For every pair of the Fleur de Lis collection sold, one dollar was donated to help build houses in the areas devastated by the hurricanes. Many retailers had also signed on to match the donation from the pairs sold in their stores to NOAHH.
“We are overwhelmed at the generosity of Volatile and their consumers,” stated Jim Pate, Executive Director of NOAHH. “These funds will go towards the building of a home for one of our partner families – truly a home that sandals built.”
"The people of Louisiana and Mississippi have embraced the Volatile shoe collection, especially our sandals. We wanted to do something to give back to the community," states Brian Lovely, Vice President of Product Development at Palos Verdes Footwear. "The Fleur de Lis is one of the most recognized symbols in the world. This hails back from French King Louis XIV and symbolizes the French influence of New Orleans. The symbol represents life, light, and perfection. To me, the symbol now represents the re-birth of the Gulf Coast affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We especially want to dedicate this to all our customers who are big fans of our brand.”
The initial collection began selling in September 2007 and consisted of Volatile sandals featuring the Fleur de Lis symbol. "Existing shoe stores and boutiques that carry the Volatile brand jumped on the collection before we even announced that we were teaming up with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. We sold out our first two deliveries in less then a week", Michael Lovely, Vice President of Volatile Sales, stated.
"We believe that the proceeds of our shoe sales will help breathe some new life into New Orleans. We plan now to let the rest of the world know about it as well,” said Brian Lovely. "We hope that funds raised through the sale of the Volatile Fleur de Lis collection will help New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity."
