Collecting shoes for women job seekers

When it comes to shoes, Mary

Carlson has outdone Imelda Marcos, but in a way that benefits women who want to get back into the Long Island workforce.

Marcos, wife of the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, was famous for collecting shoes during her husband's reign in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, accumulating some 2,700 pairs.

Carlson has collected about 3,600 pairs. But unlike Marcos, who kept all the shoes for herself, Carlson, a podiatrist in Williston Park, has given them all away to organizations serving women who want to get back into the business world but can't afford outfits, and to other groups serving the poor.

Carlson, who has had a practice in Williston Park for five years -- and in Brooklyn for 15 years before that -- decided in September 2010 to collect shoes from patients who for medical reasons could no longer wear them. She first went to a fair in Williston Park, asking for donations of shoes.

"I got an overwhelming response," Carlson said. "People came to the fair with boxes" of shoes.

She continued collecting in her office at 637 Willis Ave. "I hear people all the time tell me they can't wear certain shoes," Carlson said. "The shoe does not make the problem. The shoe aggravates the problem. I thought, 'Why not get these shoes out of peoples' closets and to people who need them?' "

Dress for Success, an organization that helps outfit poor women who want to return to the workforce, and the Interfaith Nutrition Network are among the organizations that receive shoes from Carlson.

"Everybody thinks Long Island is wealthy," Carlson said.