Ethan Cohen didn't know what he was starting when he gave a needy Albanian some sneakers in July. Cohen told his dad in Pensacola, Fla., and the senior Cohen was so moved that he spread the word. Soon his fellow lawyers were in on it. Then a church, a grade school, a Navy base, a TV station. The whole town.
Soldiers haul the boxes into a lonely hotel lobby, and a woolen crowd waits.
The men in walking caps and women in scarves hit the boxes hard, vying for Nikes and leather loafers and snow boots. Some are new, some are used. All are usable. Cohen's sergeant tries to push the Serbs back, her eyes going wide. But as soon as the wave of needy reaches its peak, it rolls away.