Abiding Savior 8th Grader Collects 5,545 Pairs of Shoes to Help Kenya Water Project
Students Beat Original Goal of "2,500 Pairs in 25 Days"
A few weeks ago, Parker Van Nest, an 8th grader at Abiding Savior
Lutheran School in south St. Louis County, challenged his fellow
students to collect 2,500 pairs of shoes in 25 days to help Pastor
George "The Shoeman" Hutchings raise money to build clean water
wells in Africa.
But on Friday, Oct. 30, Parker and his classmates presented Hutchings
with a huge suprise -- 5,545 pairs of shoes, more than double their
original goal -- when he visited the school in his colorful "Shoeman"
truck and trailer. Despite pouring rain, about 20 eighth-graders from
Abiding Savior and 15 students from Lutheran High School South loaded
bag after bag of shoes into both Hutchings' trailer and a school bus,
which was called in to handle the surplus. Hutchings, a St. Louis-area
minister, will sell the shoes to buy drilling equipment for the Kenya
Water Project. (For more information on the Project,
visit www.shoeman.org.)
Parker originally came up with the "2,500 Pairs in 25 Days" idea as
one of "25 Acts of Kindness" to celebrate Abiding Savior's 25th
anniversary. But after reaching out to neighbors, family-members, their
parents' co-workers, and other churches and schools, the students quickly surpassed their goal.
"By Tuesday of that week, we were at 4,771 pairs of shoes and we still
had a few days to go," said Principal Laura Montgomery. "The students
were so excited to know that the more shoes they collected, the more
they could help "The Shoeman" bring clean water to children in Kenya."
Abiding Savior Lutheran School serves 284 students in pre-kindergarten
through eighth grade and is located at 4353 Butler Hill Rd. in south St.
Louis County. For more information, call 314-892-4408, or visit
www.abidingsaviorlutheran.org.
