4,244 shoes found on doorsteps
ByA nAnnen@eT-hKeaCtohlurmynb iBaSutlatrm.coamn

Hudson White steps out of his truck to pick up shoes left on people's doorsteps to help the people of Sierra Leone. Collecting the shoes was part of White's project to become an Eagle Scout.

The brown paper bags were left on several doorsteps in hopes they would be overflowing by the next weekend. The community did its best to fill the bags, and the result was amazing.

Hudson White, a 17- year- old student at Hammond, returned to the doorsteps to collect the paper bags and couldn't believe how many shoes were in them.

"I was only expecting to collect 400 or 500," White said.

White was planning a project as part of the requirement for becoming an Eagle Scout when he got an idea from Lance Amara. Amara had been collecting shoes for the displaced people of Sierra Leone, Africa, but had only collected 300 pairs over the course of one year. So White decided to continue the idea and turn it into his project.

White bought 1,000 paper bags, made two different fliers explaining the project, and stapled them to the bags. He took about 400 bags to the Woodlands Community, which is where half of the donations came from, and left them on people's doorsteps.

Hudson White got the idea of collecting shoes for the people of Sierra Leone from Lance Amara who collected 300 pairs of shoes.

"We also passed bags out to The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, The Columbia Ward on Fort Jackson, and Windsor Lake Ward," White said. "My mom took several bags to work with her, and a lot of people donated."

After collecting all the paper bags, all 2,122 pairs of shoes were tied together, boxed up, and will be shipped this weekend.

"I really have to thank the people who donated the shoes and the people who helped me collect them," White said. "I didn't expect such a great turnout, and it wouldn't have been possible without the community's help."

Although White will soon become an Eagle Scout, the project may continue. White told Amara of several others who wished to continue the project and gave him ideas how to make it a continued success.

"I knew when I set my mind to doing the project it would be a great accomplishment because it would help people in need," White said.

People filled the 1,000 bags Hudson White put on doorsteps for shoes for the people of Sierra Leone. Volunteers help Hudson White box the shoes collected from communities for the people of Sierra Leone.