Melanie Warren’s No. 1 priority is to get 20,000 shoes to children in third-world countries overseas.

“I will not quit until I’m done,” she said.

Last June, Warren took on the challenge to collect as many shoes as possible for Soles4Souls, a national non-profit organization which facilitates the delivery of shoes to impoverished regions. Warren did so as a volunteer member of the Seattle chapter of the Association of Professional Organizers.

With the help of community business owners, Emerald Ridge High School and Glacier View Junior High, the chapter collected close to 7,000 shoes.

But then Warren discovered if the collections continued forward, and an additional 13,000 pairs could be collected, then Soles4Souls would pay shipping.

At the beginning of the month, Warren, the past president of the Puyallup-Sumner Chamber of Commerce, called the Puyallup School District and invited 14 schools to participate in the challenge.

“I’m confident I can reach my 20,000 goal,” she said.

Warren has a full warehouse on South Hill dedicated to boxes of shoes of all kinds, ready to be shipped. On Thursday, there were about 135 boxes full of about 7,000 pairs.

Warren said she will need an additional 240 cardboard boxes to accommodate the 13,000 additional pairs. Air Van, a transportation company, has helped to donate some boxes.

In the warehouse, students from Emerald Ridge High School’s Interact Club assembled boxes of shoes.

“There is a shoe for every style, taste, age and size,” said Patti McMullan, a career counselor at Emerald Ridge.

Amisha Parikh, a junior at Emerald Ridge who is the president of the Interact Club, said the community’s cause is indescribable.

“Each shoe makes a difference,” she said. “We underestimate the value of a shoe.”

Soles4Souls accepts any quality of shoe. It even accepts single shoes, because many are sent as products to microbusinesses in different regions. Those owners, often women, take the shoes and match them to make a new creation for profit.

The variety collected so far are as diverse as size 12 Air Jordans to mini baby Jordans. There are high heels, flip-flops, work boots, tennis shoes and even house slippers.

One school that is starting its shoe drive to help is Ballou Junior High.

“The push is to collect as many shoes as possible in the next week,” Ballou Principal Krista Bates said. “It’s good for students to think globally, and helping others is always a positive.”

Meanwhile, Northwood Elementary is doing the challenge as part of its Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

“Our principal put out a challenge to the students to write an essay with the theme of ‘I Have a dream to make a better place,’ ” sixth-grade teacher Jenn Doerr said. “I thought supporting Soles4Souls would be a great example of this theme.”

Doerr said her students already are spearheading the effort by making posters and giving announcements about the shoe drive and the Martin Luther King Jr. school assembly set for Jan. 18.

The assembly will serve as a kickoff for the school-wide shoe drive. The school plans to collect shoes through Jan. 26.

“I’ve had kids already come back to me saying how they’ve spread the word among their family, friends and churches,” Doerr said. “We know Melanie (Warren) is trying to reach 20,000 pairs of shoes, and we’re trying to do as much as we can. Our goal will be at least one pair per student.”

Doerr said she’s excited about the passion students at Northwood are exhibiting.

“The students have been so inspired about the shoe drive,” she said. “I’ve talked to the kids a lot about the fact that they are going to be our future leaders. It gives me hope for what they accomplish in the future.”

Reach Puyallup reporter Andrew Fickes at 253-841-2481 Ext. 313 or email at andrew.fickes@puyallupherald.com.