Havre youth collect shoes to build water wells in Africa

Havre youth are collecting used pairs of shoes that will be sent to Africa.

The shoes will be sold and the profits will be used to build fresh water wells in the struggling country of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries on Earth.

Youth from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have already placed collection boxes to three locations around town. They are now at

• Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods,

• The Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line.

• The State Farm Insurance office on U. S. Highway 2.

Flyers have gone out to businesses all over town asking them and their employees to donate some used shoes they may have in their closet.

Mormon youth groups around north-central Montana are participating in the project, said Kathleen Swenson, an organizer of the fundraiser.

A goal of 2,000 pairs of shoes has been set for the Havre youth group, and Swenson estimated that they are one-third of the way there already. The youth wouldn’t mind if they surpass the goal, she said.

All kinds of shoes are needed, she said, but there is a special emphasis on tennis shoes.

June 19, the youth will make the last collection of shoes, and they will be cleaned up before the young people take the shoes to Great Falls, where they will be packaged and sent off to Africa, she said.

In Tanzania, shoes will be refurbished and sold. Tthe profits from the sale will go to Burkina Faso.

Swenson said building water wells is the first step in developing a stronger nation.

Providing water wells, opens doors to better education and health services, she said.

Service is the theme of this year’s conference in Great Falls, she said. This project fits right into that theme, she said.

All wearable shoes are acceptable, she said.

The project is teaching young people in Havre that “the rest of the world does not have the pleasant things we take for granted,” Swenson said.

It will be a valuable lesson in service, she said.