Williamsville boy collects 3,000 pairs of shoes for kids in Nicaragua

On Friday morning, a truck pulled up outside Heim Elementary School in Williamsville to collect boxes full of shoes for the Nicaragua Mission Project.

The project has been collecting supplies for people in Nicaragua for more than a decade. Based in East Amherst, it works with volunteers from local schools and churches to fill boxes with donations and send them from New York to Nicaragua.

Heim Elementary School has been working with the project for years, and one fourth grader has been a part of the project for most of his life. Luke Avery started collecting shoes in kindergarten. He even goes to other schools and daycares to pick up donations. Luke has collected more than 3,000 pairs of shoes over the years. He was there again Friday morning to donate more.

"I feel like other kids can go for school because of kids at my school," Luke said.

"This is not from me, this is from other children," the project's organizer, Ann Marie Zon said. "And they always feel another kid feeling for them is more special than that shoes. They know somebody cares about them, and I think that's the bigger gift."