Sophie Kelly, a seventh grader at Sanborn Central and a junior member of the Letcher American Legion Auxiliary, has organized a community service project collecting tennis shoes for veterans. She got the idea from her grandmother, Faye Blindauer, who is also a member of the Letcher American Legion Auxilary and Letcher Auxiliary President Sandi Ruml, and it turns out the idea will help more than most might think.

The project, itself, is collecting shoes for veterans to use, but the organization that accepts the shoes will pay for every pair collected, and that money is going back to the Letcher Auxiliary to help fund other projects they put together to help even more veterans. In addition, Kelly has organized the project to be used as a community service project for 4-H, so she is fulfilling another obligation for a worthy organization.

Kelly is hoping that people from all over Sanborn County will take the time to go through their families’ closets and bring used tennis shoes to be donated at one of the drop-off places, which include CorTrust Bank at both Artesian and Letcher, Letcher Community Center, Letcher Community Church, Sanborn Central School and Woonsocket School. She will be accepting donations now until the middle of May when the school year ends.

…See a picture in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal.