It's not often what young people do in this country has an impact on people half a world away.
But some Montgomery County High schoolers have taken on that challenge in an unusual way, and in the process, surpassed their goal of giving.
One hour before school ever begins, and there's lots of activity at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney.
"You know we're kind of privileged here and we always have a nice fresh pair of shoes and its something they've never really seen," said Jack Sebeck, a senior Midfielder for the boys lacrosse team.
'They' are young people in Uganda who suffer from a devastating foot disease. The problem can be prevented by simply wearing shoes, which many don't own and can't afford.
Enter the Falcons lacrosse teams.
The girls had the idea for a simple service project and invited the boys along for the fun.
"It makes such an impact for these kids and everybody has a pair of jeans...everybody has a pair of jeans they're not wearing that can go towards something greater," said Katie Martin, a Senior on defense.
The something greater is the Sole Hope project. The project facilitates turning old jeans into brand new shoes.
The lacrosse teams had a goal of collecting 250 pairs of donated jeans.
Senior Goalie, Katie Forman couldn't believe how much more they received.
"I couldn't imagine like 200 jeans in a room. I couldn't imagine 500, suddenly we're at like 600-700 jeans and I was like how many shoes can that make," she said. "Thousands and thousands of shoes, so it was insane really."
They surpassed their goal and added this extra service day to finish up.
Kyle Mitchell, a Junior on defense empathizes with the plight of those in Uganda.
"They don't have the ability to have shoes like we do and that's kind of taking away from their freedom, so by doing this we're giving them their childhood back kind of," he said.
Each pair of jeans can make about 10 pairs of shoes. The teams made 210 pairs last time and 50 today.
The final construction happens once the shoes get to Uganda at a cost of about $10 per pair.
The school raised the money so no one in Uganda would have to foot that bill.
So this project provides protection and employment.
Click here for more information on Sole Hope.
