Shoe Biz had sold shoes and accessories for the past 20 years in Gore, until owners Sandra and Ray Kitto shut up shop and retired late last year.
After a clearance sale, they still had about $35,000 worth of unsold goods.
Mrs Kitto said there was a decision to be made — keep the shoes, or find a better purpose.
"You can only sell so many shoes at a time, and they would have just sat around for years.
"We could have taken it home, just put them in a container, but what good is it there?" she said.
With their upcoming retirement, Mrs Kitto said all remaining shoes and accessories were donated to the Gore Hospice Shop.
"We said whatever is left we will donate, and we couldn’t see a better place than the hospice," she said.
Mrs Kitto said she was more than happy to support the charity and firmly believed in the good the hospice did.
"We never really thought about anywhere else. The hospice shop is a place you don’t want to have to use, but everyone knows somebody that will require it at some stage," she said.
Shoes, insoles, accessories, worth thousands of dollars, were donated to provide help to the shop in its charitable endeavours.
Gore Hospice Shop manager Marie Wales said she was blown away by the act of goodwill.
"It’s incredibly generous. For those two to give this to their community, we’re absolutely blown away by the generosity," she said.
Hospice shops around the country help provide about 45% of the income hospice services, which include in-patient services, full-time nurses, and caring for those at the end of their lives.
Mrs Wales said it was an amazing act of charity by the couple, and celebrated their contribution to hospice.
"We get a lot of people who are very generous, but rarely someone who has selflessly given so much, especially when they’re retiring, to us," she said.
gerrit doppenberg@odt.co.nz
