A program good for your sole

Support breast cancer research with pink shoe soles

Altoona, Blair County, Pa.

You've seen pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness, but now you might also see pink shoe soles hitting the streets in Blair County.

 It all started when Billy McCabe wanted to make his own leather motorcycle seat.

"A lot of it's like reverse engineering to some degree," said Billy McCabe, owner of McCabe's Custom Leather and Shoe Repair in Altoona. "And a lot of it's trial and error. I mean, I'm pretty much completely self taught, so it's been trying, I guess, at times but been pretty successful with it all."

When he heard a shoe repair shop was closing in December 2011, he bought the equipment, took over the lease, and opened his shop two weeks later.

After four years, the specialty shop is still going strong.

"People think that the industry is dying out and it's not, it's just that there are fewer people that are revamping it," said Katie McCabe, Billy's wife and co-owner of the shop.

If you're looking to save your soles, you can also help save lives with the "Repair with Pink" initiative.

"A lot of people think that today's shoes are not repairable," Billy said. "And it's just simply not the case."

Forty-eight shops across the nation will replace your shoe soles with pink ones and donate a portion of the sales to breast cancer research.

Shops across the nation will replace your shoe soles with pink ones and donate a portion of the sales to breast cancer research

."It's just a unique way to spin on breast cancer," Katie said. "There are the walks. There are people that work tirelessly year after year after year to raise money for breast cancer."

The McCabe's said the pink sole initiative is a way to support local business, give back to the community and support a good cause - all in a shoe.

"What comes into our shop isn't padding some CEO somewhere," Katie said. "It's feeding our family. It's taking care of our children and I think that's why local is so important."

If you want pink shoe soles, but your local shoe repair shop doesn't have them, the McCabes said you can order online. Visit www.mccabesshoerepair.com for more information.