A Lesson in Community Kindness

There are book titles that make us appreciate the fact that we aren't meant to take them literally. Who really wants to know “How to Eat Fried Worms?” And it seems dangerous to surrender to “A Dance With Dragons.” But when Merrimack teen Hannah Vaccaro read the book “Do Hard Things,” by Alex and Brett Harris last year, she took it to heart.

Vaccaro, 15, is brushing up against the finish line in a months-long project she decided to emulate after reading the book by the Harrises.

This Saturday, when runners take off from the starting line at the Race2Lace 5k, she won't be running with them, she'll be running the show.

Challenging herself

The Merrimack teenager – with help from her mom Meg, and a great deal of support from her friends, her family, her school and her community – has been leading the charge in running a shoe drive and planning a 5k run/walk with the shoes and proceeds from the race going to help a new orphanage in La Gonave, Haiti.

She had never undertaken a project like this before, but with just four days to go until race day, she's already shipped 500 pairs of donated shoes to Haiti and her family's garage is home to buckets and boxes of an estimated 500 more.

What has surprised her most is the generosity she's seen from her friends, classmates and community.

“It's crazy how supportive people have been,” she said, surveying boxes of shoes.

And it all started with a book.

“('Do Hard Things') inspired me to want to help people,” Vaccaro said, and the book made it easy, because it explained how to take doing something big and make it into a manageable project. She said the story of a 16-year-old girl who organized a shoe drive and road race stood out to her in particular.

“That example really stood out to me,” Vaccaro said. “I thought, I'm almost 16, I also go to a public high school, maybe I could do something like that.”

The first challenge, she said, was deciding who would benefit from a shoe drive, but it didn't take long for her to find her answer. A story from her high school principal, about how his son donated a pair of his brand new shoes to an impoverished, and shoeless, Haitian man they met on a trip to the Dominican Republic, inspired Vaccaro to consider the island nation as the recipient of such a project. Haiti was also on her mind because members of her church, Manchester's Shiloh Community Church, make mission trips to the country.

But a crazy twist of fate sealed it for her when she randomly discovered that an upcoming mission trip to the country had two seats open up. The trip happened to fall during her February vacation, so Hannah and her mom decided to join.

Stepping Out in the World

Through the adventure with Vision International Missions, the Vaccaro women were part of a project that involved building a kitchen and dining room at an orphanage in La Gonave and installing a water pump.

“It put things into perspective, how thankful I should be for what I have,” Hannah said.

And it did for her mom, too, who talked about the difference between building a new kitchen here, versus a new kitchen in Haiti, which consisted of four concrete walls and a hearth for cooking. The roof was to come later.

Hannah said the project, that she'd started in December, really started to pick up steam after getting back from her trip.

A dedicated group of friends, her teachers and guidance counselor helped start spreading the word around school; numerous after school visits to local businesses netted raffle prizes, sponsorships and locations to set up drop boxes for people to bring in gently-used shoes.

Hannah even went and spoke in front of the membership of the Merrimack Chamber of Commerce and generated a good deal of interest from local businesses who've helped her underwrite costs for things like T-shirts for the runners and other expenses.

She and her mom have learned a great deal about organizing a 5k, too. After discovering the importance of professional timing and meeting Michael Amarello, who runs 3C Race Productions out of Merrimack, the course is now ready to go, certified at 5k length and will be timed by an organization that likes to make a difference, too.

“Everyone has just been really excited about it,” Hannah said. “Who knew it would get this big already?”

The Payoff

Hannah said she isn't even sure how many shoes to expect when all is said and done, but she's excited about the fact that in July, she is headed back to Haiti with her dad Greg and will get to hand-deliver some of the shoes.

She said she cannot wait for the return trip, to see some of the children she created unspoken bonds with while there the first time. Coming home from Haiti was humbling, Hannah said, and now she can't wait to go back.

It took time to reacclimate to life here, Meg said. Their reality and the reality of the Haitians orphans they spent so much time with were in such stark contrast.

“You come home wanting to be challenged to do something for them,” she said.

Meg said she's enjoyed working on this project with her daughter and watching her flourish.

“Obviously, I'm just so proud of her,” Meg said. “It's just awesome for a high school kid to not be consumed with her own little world and the day-to-day dramas of being a teenager, and for her to say 'I'm capable of making a difference in this world.'”

She's watched her daughter learn about leadership and further her self confidence, and it is not for accolades. There's no senior project, or college application in need of a great filler.

“She was challenged to make a change and she went out and did it,” Meg said.

Among all the takeaways from this project, Vaccaro said she just couldn't get over the community support she's seen.

“You never really experience that until you do something like this.”

***

Between now and Saturday's race, shoes can be dropped in boxes at all six Merrimack Schools, Merrimack Auto, People's Bank, the YMCA, Residence Inn, Broadway Bound and Innovations Day Spa, all in Merrimack, as well as ServPro in Chelmsford, Mass., Runner's Alley, Bicentennial School, Alec's Shoe Store, Creative Cutters, all in Nashua; Amherst Orthodontics; East Point Executive Center in Bedford; and the Boys and Girls Club of the Souhegan Valley in Milford.

Anyone who would like to donate shoes on race day is invited to stop by the high school in the morning to drop them off.

The race begins at 10 a.m. behind Merrimack High School and will run two loops around the school, up O'Gara Drive, down Baboosic Lake Road, and down McElwain Street. Online registrations are still being accepted at Race2Lace.com and day-of registration will also be available beginning at 9. Walkers are encourage to join and nonwalkers/nonrunners are also invited to come and listen to music – there will be live band there – partake in the raffle full of great, local prizes and spend a morning with their friends while helping a good cause. The cost of the race is $5 for children and $10 and a pair of gently-worn shoes, for adults. Get more information at Race2Lace.com or on Facebook.

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