Norton Family Collects 181 Gift Boxes for Young Sandy Victims

In November, 10-year-old Trenton Leavitt had the idea to collect shoeboxes full of toys for children who lost their belongings to Hurricane Sandy. Thanks to him and his family, many children will have gifts to open this holiday season.

Called the Shoebox Share Project, the Leavitt Family asked for people to fill a holiday wrapped shoebox with things like toy cars, crayons, Legos, Playdough, jump rope, makeup, hard candy and more. Their goal was to collect 100, and they almost doubled that with 181.

The Leavitt Family originally was going to hand deliver the boxes, but due to unforeseen circumstances could not make the trip. Instead, Con-way Freight picked up the tab and shipped the boxes to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission at no charge. 

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“Trenton was overwhelmed as the boxes kept piling up,” said mother Jessie. “He helped us with sorting through and organizing all of the boxes so the volunteers at the Rescue Mission knew exactly how many boxes were for boys and girls and what the age ranges were. He loved doing it and we plan to make it a tradition every year, for whatever charity needs help.”