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Traci’s grandfather had always taught her to be kind and concerned for others. When Traci was 10 years old, her grandfather died. Traci wanted to do something in his memory. She decided she wanted to help people from Guatemala, the country in Central America where she was born.
Traci noticed that in Guatemala many people were very poor and did not have the money to buy shoes. Yet, without shoes you might not be able to complete the long walk to school. Without school, you can’t get a good education. Without a good education, you can’t make money. And without money, you can’t buy shoes! On what would have been her grandfather’s 88th birthday, Traci decided to host a shoe donation collection to collect shoes for those in need in Guatemala.
Traci set herself the goal of collecting 25,000 pairs of shoes. She distributed flyers encouraging people to donate their shoes. The flyer read: ‘Hi. My name is Traci. I am 10 years old and was born in Guatemala. There are many people in the world who have so little and I have so much. I found a group that gives shoes to people in need in the US and abroad. It is called SOLES4SOULS.’
The event was such a success! Traci did not collect just 25,000 pairs of shoes but collected over 30,000 pairs. This changed the lives of 30,000 people and kept 60,000 shoes out of landfills. Changing the lives of so many people changed Traci’s life too! After her final collection she said, ‘It feels really good…because I know that I can help others in need in other countries and here in America to get shoes and something to put on their feet.’
