Ten year old Traci Weinstein from Irondequoit saw people who needed shoes in her homeland of Guatemala and worked to solve the problem.
"A ten year old starts something, and then a community gets behind it,” said co-organizer Pat Waring of Irondequoit. “How did we do this in 90 days?"
How did Traci Weinstein gather more than 25,000 pairs of shoes since Labor Day? One pair at a time.
Weinstein will turn over her shoe collection to the charity "Soles 4 Souls." They will be donated to the needy in the United States and around the world.
Pat Waring says Traci's collection reached 25-thousand pairs Sunday afternoon at the Irondequoit Town Hall. "25-thousand is a lot of pairs of shoes. How we've all done it collectively is astounding. We are so grateful to everyone."
Waring grew up near Buffalo, and lived away from western New York for 30 years, until returning to Rochester 18-months ago. She says the support here is overwhelming. "The people of Rochester have big hearts. They are generous and they understand need. They take their blessings and share them with people that have a need."
Waring says she's never seen anything like this in any of her travels.
Traci may realize her dream soon. "Traci and her mom and sister Brooke, will hopefully be in Guatemala for a five day trip in the summer to distribute shoes to people in need."
Waring says Soles for Souls may even provide Traci with some new shoes to distribute on her trip.
"We just want to say a great big thank you to Rochester. We're delighted to be here. We're delighted to live among people like this. It does feel good to have reached this goal."