445th AW Airman's Council donates shoes for clean water

by Senior Airman Shen-Chia McHone
445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

12/3/2012 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio  -- The 445th Airlift Wing Airman's Council has collected more than 3,000 pairs of shoes to donate shoes to EDGE Outreach to create clean drinking water for those in need. This international organization helps to provide clean, bacteria and parasite-free water for people around the world. The council collected shoes for the "Shoes for Water" program across the wing from June to November 2012 and during the Air Force Marathon.

According to EDGE Outreach, there are 884 million people worldwide who live without clean water every day. With every passing second, children are dying because of unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene. More than 5,000 children die each day in the world's poorest countries and more than 80 percent of all sicknesses in the world are attributed to unsafe water and sanitation.

The collected shoes will help to raise money for water purification projects and keep used shoes out of landfills. For every 20,000 pounds of shoes that EDGE Outreach sells to an exporter, one village in a Third World country will be provided a chlorine generator, and water purification equipment and training.