It is with disappointment that we must address the concerning behavior of a chapter of Shoe4Africa based in Munich, Germany, which we assisted in forming over a decade ago. What began as a collaborative effort has unfortunately taken a troubling turn, as this chapter has seemingly acted independently and without regard for the principles of our organization.

Recently, we directed a donation to this chapter and subsequently requested information regarding its use. Our inquiries have been met with silence. Despite attempts to engage with the chapter on this subject, Shoe4Africa ‘Germany’ have failed to provide any evidence of their activities over the last few years.

In a particularly telling statement, the leader of the chapter asserted that they operate independently, in fact with no ties to our organization. While it is true that individuals can establish their own entities in Germany, it is both unethical and legally questionable to leverage an established nonprofit’s name, logo, and projects then refuse to divulge information of how funds are being used in that country.

We possess records of the German initial requests for permission to use our name and materials to help raise funds for our cause, as well as their submission of a constitution for our review and approval. The individuals led us to believe they would assist in raising funds for our cause, and for a couple of years they did. We trusted that these individuals entered the world of charity with noble intentions, but it appears by their recent actions that we were deceived.

We urge donors to exercise caution when approached by this chapter, as they have always, from formation up until today, used our images and reputation to solicit donations. See below for screenshots from the website stating funds will be directed to us.
Their actions will go down as a cautionary step for us and our priority right now is helping the individuals who have contacted us from Germany who want to help and wanted to funnel donations through this entity which the co-founder recently stated to us, ‘has nothing to do with Shoe4Africa.’

Below is Shoe4Africa Deutschland’s official Facebook page where despite the co-founder writing, “It’s important to note that our organization in Germany operates independently, with no legal or other ties to your organization. Anyone can establish such an entity and contribute to the cause” you can clearly see for yourself that they do have ties to our organization. It very much appears that they have used the pictures of our hospital, used the pictures of our women members of our domestic violence project, printed our logo and colors on their merchandise, yet openly maintain they have “no ties to our organization?”

In response to the above quote from the co-founder of Shoe4Africa Germany, informing us they are a completely separate entity with no ties, we sent the below correspondence and are awaiting a reply:

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. When we first established our organization to improve the lives of children in Kenya, we were brimming with drive and optimism, and we’re pleased to say that spirit remains with us today. In a relatively short span of time, we’ve accomplished a great deal, pouring our hearts and souls into every project.

However, there are moments when our focus must shift to other matters, a situation we’ve both experienced independently. There have also been instances where, unfortunately, we were unable to take action due to circumstances beyond our control.

It’s important to note that our organization in Germany operates independently, with no legal or other ties to your organization. Anyone can establish such an entity and contribute to the cause. We’ve made it a point to respond to all emails and inquiries we’ve received, though we acknowledge that our responses may not always align with expectations. In certain cases, we’ve had to decline requests due to tax-related issues, a fact we’ve communicated to you as well.

Rest assured, our association and website (plugin needs to be reactivated) are still very much active. We appreciate your understanding and continued support.

Michael.

To answer Michael, we suggest he looks at his ‘own’ website, the Shoe4Africa German site, although stating that they have no ties, legal or otherwise, are using our hospital to fundraise for their own means. We share a screen shot of their website.

And in Conclusion we want to include, in their own wording, the reason, WHY they formed Shoe4Africa Germany as they appear to have forgotten. See below their website where you can read the words, “The Purpose of the association is to raise and forward funds to Shoe4Africa.org.” That would be us, Michael.