Passion for service leads boy scout to donate over 1,000 pairs of shoes

Ever since William Capone was young he’s had a passion for community service. Whether it be through church or a Boy Scout project, the East Norwich resident said he has always thought about the greater good.

“[My family] did all these community service [projects] as a kid and now as I’ve gotten older it’s just part of my life,” said Capone, 17. “It’s part of what I do and trying to help the community.”

Joining the Boy Scouts at 11-years-old, Capone has lived by the organization's slogan: “Do a good turn daily.

“Service to others is a big part of Boy Scouts,” said Boy Scout Troop 299’s scoutmaster, Ron Bagan.

The Oyster Bay High School senior recently completed his Eagle Scout project, the last step in his journey to obtaining an Eagle rank. Partnering with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Long Island, Capone held a shoe drive. On Oct. 24 and 25 he collected 1,055 pairs of shoes at local churches to be donated to those in need.

Ahead of the collection days Capone attended in-person mass and recorded videos for virtual services at Christ Church and St. Dominic's Church, both in Oyster Bay, to spread the word about his drive.

“I was looking around at Eagle Scout projects and a lot of them seemed to have some sort of building. People build stands [or] a bench and I’m like ‘It’s just a bench,’” Capone said. “I wanted to do something [that would] really help the community.”

Once the shoes were collected they were brought to St. Vincent’s Garden City Park store. Community members can now come buy the shoes, or for those struggling, receive them by donation.

“[The drive] was obviously something we were extremely grateful about,” said Erin Geier, development manager at St. Vincent de Paul. “At the end, the sheer amount of shoes he received just totally defied our expectations. We're really proud and grateful for the partnership.”

As a fun, additional step, Capone constructed a giant, cardboard shoe designed to serve as the collection box and mark their location for incoming donations.

“I was really impressed [with the whole project],” Geier said. “I thought it was really creative, especially his idea of building a giant shoe to have people donate to.”To Bagan, drive-based projects, whether it be shoes, coats, etc. are more difficult to pull off.

“There's a little more creative thinking involved then if they went and built some kind of project for a local organization or cleaned up a trail,” Bagan said. “He did a terrific job with it.”

Despite the drive being a success, it didn’t go perfectly as planned. Capone intended to raise money for the drive through a car wash. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it wasn’t possible.

While Covid-19 did create a new set of challenges, with aspirations of studying business in college, Capone said overall the challenges were a great learning experience. “Having less money because I couldn’t conduct a car wash taught me a lot about business,” he said. “When I go to college I’ll actually have some real life experience.”

Many are proud of what Capone accomplished. “Will was able to through hard work and leadership pull off this great achievement,” Manuel Panariello, an Eagle Scout and close friend of Capone’s, said in a statement. “I am proud that I was able to help him on his journey to Eagle Scout.”

Capone’s desire to give back extends not only to the greater community but also his inner circle.

Serving as a Patrol Leader in Boy Scout Troop 299, headquartered at the American Legion office in Oyster Bay, Capone is always helping others.

“He’s always been very conscientious, hardworking, and interested in those things that give back to the community or helping his fellow scouts,” Bagan said. “As part of his position as Patrol Leader he does a lot of instructing and mentoring in the skills and requirements to be scouts and helps them advance in their ranks. He takes that very seriously.”

To Geier, Capone’s Eagle project was so much more than just collecting shoes. It was an opportunity to bring awareness to local poverty.

“Sometimes the issue of poverty is stigmatized and there's unfortunately this shame element to it. It was really nice to see a young kid who by his own volition was willing to help people in his community . . . beyond just actually donating the physical shoes,” Geier said. “The other component was just raising awareness of the issue of poverty and I think that was really brave of him to do.”

As fall turns to winter and the days get colder, now was a perfect time of the year to host the drive. “Poverty is a challenge on Long Island no matter what, but once it gets cold and compounded with the coronavirus, with the unemployment rate, with rent moratoriums it's going to be a very challenging year ahead for those in poverty.” Geier said.

“I wish there were more people like William out in the world,” she added. “[It] means so much to us. We’re really happy that [Capone] was able to do this.”

Geier said that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is always looking to partner with local community members like Capone. “We do all types of things like this throughout the year and I think it's just a fun way to help those in need on Long Island, she said, “and raise awareness of poverty.”

Filing the required paperwork to become an Eagle Scout, Capone said he is proud of what he has done to help the community.“[Doing the project] was a great feeling,” he said. “I really felt like I was really making an impact in people's lives, especially with Covid happening.”