Hendersonville resident Olivia Write has been nominated for Build-A-Bear's annual Huggable Heroes search.
In 2008, Wright saw a television program about the living conditions of some children in Appalachia, who lacked basic items like shoes. Determined to make a difference, Olivia and her dad created Tennessee H.U.G.S. (Help Us Give Shoes) to help address the problem.
Working with her church, her group were able to gather 670 pairs of shows within a three week period. To date, they have collected over 4,600 pairs with a march 2011 goal of 10,000.
"People here take their good life for granted sometimes,” Olivia said.
“They think that because they live in the United States, everybody here has at least the basics for life, but it’s not true. There are people here that are not getting their basic needs met, and they deserve a good life as much as the rest of us do.”
