Water in need comes from shoes

Leopold, Mo., native George Hutchinson has spent more than two years providing clean water to people in need through his work as the Shoeman. Hutchinson collects new and used shoes and sells them to people around the world. Shoeman Water Projects picks up shoes from businesses, churches, schools, special events and shoe drives. The shoes are exported to retailers in the developing world. Funds generated from the shoes provide well drilling rigs and water purification systems, bringing clean, fresh water to people in developing countries. Over the past two years, Hutchinson has used the revenue from his shoe sales to drill 250 wells in Kenya, providing fresh water to more than 200,000 people, and donated water purification systems to people in Haiti. For more information, visit Hutchinson's website at Shoeman.com.