By Mary O’KEEFE

For the last 15 days Rosemont Middle School students have been collecting gently used shoes as part of their “Think Kindness” program.
Brian Williams brought his non-profit organization’s message of “Think Kindness” to the school and challenged them to collect 2500 pairs of shoes in just 15 days.
The seventh and eighth graders reached out to their friends, family and the community. Rosemont teachers and staff did the same and together they collected 6,000 pairs of shoes.
The multiple bags of shoes were stored in the cafeteria’s stage until Wednesday when Nick Tuttle arrived with a trailer, and kids started moving shoes.
“We are shipping providers. We work with Brian’s charity,” Tuttle said. “Last week we were in Wyoming and Montana. We [travel] to all kinds of places.”
The shoes are first taken from Southern California to Reno, Nevada where they are stored as Tuttle returns to California next week to collect more.  Then they will be put into a semi-truck and transferred to Miami, Florida where they will be sorted by size and type. The shoes will then be packed and prepared for their trip to Kenya where they will be donated to children and adults in need.