Local Boy Scout hopes he’s a shoe-in for Eagle

PALMER — Alexander Deedy, 15, a sophomore at Colony High School, is all about helping others.

As a Life Scout for the Wasilla Boy Scout Troop 395, Deedy embarked on a project that he felt would give back to the community as well as garnish him a coveted Eagle Scout badge.

Deedy stood outside local department stores and collected more than 120 pairs of shoes from patrons. He will donate the schools to low-income school kids through the Foundations of the Future program.

Valley stores, such as Wal-Mart, Payless Shoes and Sears, agreed to allow Deedy to set up donation boxes outside their doors.

The result was collecting everything from Adidas to Sketcher shoes ranging in value from from $9 to $45 designer sneakers.

“I felt it was a good Eagle Scout project because I understood there are kids out there who are unable to get new shoes for the school year,” Deedy said. “So I got some people together and decided to help.”

Deedy met with Mary Joe Parks, organizer of the Special Santa program with Foundations for the Future, to get the ball rolling.

He then had to put his idea on paper and presented it to the troop’s Eagle Scout Committee to make sure his idea was worthy of an Eagle rank.

Deedy, along with members of his Boy Scout troop, volunteered more than 90 hours standing outside the department stores and selling their cause to the public.

“We put up a shoe source and collection spots and people just started donating their shoes,” Deedy said.

Slowly over two weeks, Deedy, with help from his parents, began to fill his boxes with shoes.

Next, Deedy will distribute the shoes to Foundations of the Future along with the other donations that were collected for the cause. Deedy plans on staying in Scouting during the remainder of his high school days, joining the Venturing Scouts and involving himself in other outdoor adventure activities. He then plans on attending college to study wildlife biology.