Molly Hightower’s life was much too short, leaving this world at the young age of 22. But the impact she made on people was deep and wide ranging, from Tacoma, where she attended high school at Bellarmine Prep, to Port Orchard, where she grew up, to the other side of the hemisphere.
Hightower was among the tens of thousands of people who died last month during the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. She had been in the Caribbean nation since last June, serving as a volunteer with the organization Friends of the Orphans.
Hightower had much love and compassion for the orphaned and disabled she worked with. Despite the poverty and despair in her surroundings, in the poorest nation in North America, she embodied the hope and optimism of youth.
While visiting family up here in December, Hightower started a shoe drive. Family members began gathering shoes that would be distributed to children at the orphanage where she volunteered.
Since her death, donations of shoes have been pouring in from around the region. Her father Mike Hightower is general manager of Service Steel Aerospace in Tacoma. The facility has numerous containers full of shoes – some donated by his daughter’s friends and acquaintances, some from the company’s customers, but most from complete strangers who wanted to do something to help ease the misery in Haiti.
Donations of pairs of shoes in good condition, tied or bound together, are being accepted between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Feb. 15 at the business, located at 939 E. ‘F’ St. in Tacoma.
The donation of a pair of shoes may seem like a simple act, but the shoes can mean a world of difference for poor people who lack such a basic necessity. And the gesture is a powerful way to keep alive the spirit and dedication of a most remarkable young woman.
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