Hopatcong Girl Collects Shoes for Homeless

Missionaries recently visited the church class of Hopatcong's Teagan Dougherty and told the 12-year-old a homeless Dover woman lost her toes due to frostbite during the winter a couple of years ago.

So Teagan decided to take action.

Teagan hopes Hopatcong residents will leave unwanted footwear in collection boxes spread throughout the districts schools. The sneakers will be distributed through the Presbyterian Church of Dover. She left the first box in the main office Monday.

"I felt really bad," for the woman, Teagan said.

Tom Dougherty said he was thrilled when his daughter first told him of the idea.

"She came home and she said, 'I have too many shoes,'" the father said. "'There are people who don't even have shoes. I want to collect shoes for them.' I said, 'OK, let's go.'"

Tom Dougherty said the drive will last through January. He said his daughter hopes to collect shoes that are still in decent shape.

"We'll take anything," he said. "Obviously we're not looking for high heels or dress shoes, but we want sneakers, rain boors, winter boots—that kind of stuff."
He said he was proud of his daughter.

"I just think it's awesome," he said. "She's 12 years old. A lot of 12-year-olds don't think outside their bedroom. They don't have a real awareness of what's going on around there. There are people out there that just need help."

Helping those in need isn't new for Teagan, who helped organize a collection for Noah's Ark and the Hopatcong animal pound a few years ago, her father said.