News editor
Children and adults in Haiti, Ecuador, and Burkina Faso will walk miles in the footwear of generous Marion Countians who contributed 1,200 pairs of shoes to a charitable effort of county youths.
Girl Scout troops in Peabody, Marion, and Centre, along with the “Live Big” group from Burns United Methodist Church, collected 1,000 pairs of shoes for Dando Amor, a nonprofit charity that works with orphanages in Haiti, Ecuador, and Burkina Faso, a small, impoverished African country. Marion Girl Scouts contributed $100 to buy an additional 200 pairs of flip flops.
Peabody troop leader Tina Spencer said donation boxes were set up at churches, schools, businesses, and the county courthouse. Brenda Soyez and Deb Casey coordinated the girls’ efforts in Marion and at Centre.
Shoes in good condition will be distributed at orphanages, Spencer said, and shoes in need of repair will be given to adults who can fix and sell them to support their families.
Spencer was pleased with the response to an activity new to local Girl Scouts that they learned about through the Salina Girl Scout Council.
“This is the first I’d ever heard of it,” Spencer said. “I hope we can do it again because I think we could do even better.”