From Loudoun, Shoes for Darfur | LoudounExtra.com

Thirty thousand pairs of shoes were laid out around the reflecting pool near the U.S. Capitol yesterday to draw attention to the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Students from Loudoun County's Briar Woods High School collected the shoes, which will be sent to Sudan and other parts of the world. The event was held in conjunction with Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based group that has distributed more than 4.3 million pairs of shoes to people in 125 impoverished countries.

"The work that the students put in prior to this event really means so much," said Paul Wilson, president of the group's World Outreach Division. The shoes will be distributed in Sudan and other parts of the world where, Wilson said, "people don't have one pair of shoes."

Video: Shoes for Darfur

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Nick Carmean, 17, a senior at Briar Woods, said: "History teaches us that you have to pay attention to world events, and with the genocide taking place in Darfur, you have to do something about it."

Carmean was a student in Logan Williams's international relations class, which spearheaded the project. Former heavy weight boxing champion Riddick Bowe and Nyasha Zimucha, Miss Africa USA 2008-09, were on hand for yesterday's event.

The students' hard work almost went to waste when the crew of a trash truck spotted the many neatly tied bags and prepared to haul them away.

"Stop! Wait!" yelled Williams, explaining that the bags were full of donated shoes.