Blake partnered with Power to Become, a non-profit organization in Rexburg, Idaho, to conduct a used shoe drive of all types/sizes in our area to send to people in need over in Africa.
We started by dumpster diving to get a large enough box to set up in the foyer at church for a donation box. He made flyers and distributed them to all the wards informing him of his project. The box was full every week so he was able to collect a TON of shoes this way
Multiple nights a week we had dozens of shoes dumped on the floor of the family room to pair up, sort, count and load in large black garbage bags. Ashlyn LOVED to help each night.
We all got quite the laugh at some of the shoes that were donated and of course our shoes obsessed 9 year old had to try all the fun ones on that we came across. These heels were so tall, she couldn't walk in them without falling.
Then he contacted aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends to see if they had any shoes to donate and if they wanted to help in any way. Uncle Steve was quick to offer to spread the word at work - we drove to Salem to pick up his collection of 185 pairs! Aunt Shannon helped collect some from her coworkers too.
Then at the very end we got a phone call from somebody in Eugene, Oregon, that had a TON of shoes their youth had collected that they wanted to donate...luckily Grandma Kathy was coming that weekend for a visit, so she was able to transport them all for us.
We even put her to work while she was here to sort them all.
He had a friend manage a donation box at their church, passed flyers out in our neighborhood, posted about his project on various local Face Book pages and even contacted the newspaper to spread the word.
He even met with his principal to work with the ASB to organize a drive at his school. They were going to make it a class competition, the winning class getting a pizza party. Unfortunately, Power to Become ended up coming 2 weeks earlier than expected to pick up Blake's shoes, so he had to cancel the drive at school...he was pretty bummed.
The morning they came his last count of shoes was 1,820 pairs!
We have a friend who works with a non-profit to provide vision and dental care in Ethiopia. When she heard of Blake's project she commented on Face Book - "Great idea! They sure need them! A lot of the villagers that we work with in Ethiopia get parasites in their feet and crazy sores. Many of them don't own a single pair. It's hard to watch. Good job Blake!!" - Melanie Bullock
Since we didn't have much notice about them coming to pick up Blake's collection earlier than expected, Rick is still getting people dropping off bags of shoes at his office, so who know how many pairs we are going to end up with. Luckily my parents just moved to Pocatello, Idaho, last month so we can go visit and take the rest of the shoes we end up with.
It sure is nice to have all the shoes gone and have our garage back..but even nicer to watch Blake carry out such a HUGE project in our community for people in need of such a basic necessity that we take for granted. We can't believe what a great young man he is developing into and definitely proud to be his parents! Now to get the rest of the camp outs he needs for the Camping merit badge and be DONE with the scouting thing!
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