Thankfully, our kids are all very busy and involved in lots of good things
which gives us opportunity to focus our thoughts elsewhere. One of the activities that has demanded the time and attention of everyone in our family is Braden's eagle scout project. He has joined forces with an organization called Soles4Souls to collect used footwear to be distributed in needy countries around the world. So far he's collected about 200 pairs of shoes, his goal is 500. Here are a few statistics...*Over 1.5 billion pairs of shoes lay idle in American closets.
*Over 300 million people around the world are without shoes.
*Since 2005, Soles4Souls has distributed over 5.5 million pairs of shoes to people in over 125 countries, including Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Peru, and Thailand.
Braden's shoe drive will continue through March. He will then tie the pairs together or place a rubber band around each pair, place them in boxes and mail them to a warehouse in Nevada where they will be sorted by representatives of Soles4Souls and shipped internationally. This is such an efficient and noble cause, we are proud of Braden for taking on the challenge.
(If you have used shoes you'd like to donate, we have Soles4Souls collection boxes at Willowcreek Middle School, Copper Hills High School, Saratoga Shores Elementary, West Lake High School, and the foyer of the 1500 North church. Braden has organized a door-to-door shoe drive by the scouts from his troop in our neighborhood on Saturday, March 27th, or you can drop them off at our house, or if you contact him, he will come pick them up at any time. Thanks for the support!)