Little Idea Gets Huge Results

Ever have an idea that got out of control? That’s what happened to Jess White when she thought, “Gee, I’m buying a new pair of running shoes, yet I already own three other pairs. What could I do with my gently-used shoes so they are put to good use?” That thought led to a whirlwind of activity as she decided to donate the shoes to Soles4Souls. Jess contacted a local athletic store and announced she was collecting used shoes for people in need in Haiti. She expected to collect, oh let’s say 40 pairs of shoes. Instead, she ended up shipping over 11,000 pairs of shoes to the Soles4Souls warehouse in Alabama. We were privileged to spend time with Jess and her friend Christina when we visited Kansas City. Jess laughingly told us how one thing led to another. Customers at the athletic store began donating shoes. Schools ran shoe drives. Businesses donated boxes to ship the shoes. Someone donated a barn to store the shoes. A trucking company donated a truck and driver. The “only” thing Jess had to do was coordinate the hundreds of detail that sprang up in her month-long shoe drive. Now all those shoes are on their way to Haiti and Jess is contemplating her answer when people ask, “Hey Jess! Are you doing this again next year?”

Housework versus RVwork

While most people have housework that involves hours of mowing the lawn, cleaning gutters and vacuuming carpets, “RVwork” is much easier. We let campground owners mow the lawn, we have no gutters and vacuuming takes 32 seconds on our strip of carpet. So our “chore” for the day is painting the steps that lead to the RV. Time elapsed…2 minutes. Now it’s off to hike and explore a cave at this campground.