After playing in a pickup game of soccer at a school in East Africa during the summer of 2015, an AFS Middle Schooler told his family that he was upset at what he had seen on the playing field.

“The kids were really good — and they didn’t even have shoes,” Julie Copeland said her son, Austin, told his family at dinner that night. “I think I can do something.”

That something turned out to be “Pay It Forward Sports,” a seven-month shoe drive that Austin created for the collection of outgrown cleats, sneakers and other shoes for the soccer players and students in the classrooms at the Tumaini Junior School in Karatu, Tanzania.

The result was 3,000 new and used shoes, collected pair by pair at Abington Friends School and elsewhere in eastern Montgomery County. The shoes were distributed to the students at the Tumaini Junior School in January.

“We can’t imagine how much work you had to do to collect all of these shoes,” wrote Meghan Magee, program manager for the Tanzania Education Program.

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Austin, now a seventh grader, was on vacation with his extended family when he visited the school in Tanzania. When he returned home, he set up donation boxes in the fall of 2015 in the AFS Middle and Lower schools and collected shoes from them every week. His mother said shoes also were collected at Kol Ami synagogue, from Hunter Soccer and other clubs, and at Holy Redeemer Hospital as the extended Copeland family became involved. An initial goal of collecting 500 shoes was surpassed because the collection boxes kept filling up.

“My trunk was always filled with shoes,” Julie said with a laugh.

Finally, this past March, they decided to cut off the campaign and soon after the family spent a day sorting shoes by size and packing them for shipment to the school. The students were thrilled with the quality of the shoes and the benefits they would bring.

“Now that we have these cleats, we look good and can play even better,” wrote Shedrack, captain of the boys’ soccer team.

School officials said the students especially liked the range of colors and styles.

“Each and every pair is making a difference in the lives of children at Tumaini,” wrote Adrienne Luczkow, program manager for the Tanzania Education Program.

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Julie said her favorite part of the campaign was the learning that had occurred.

“It was such a small idea, look how big it became,” she said Austin told her. “If you can think it, just go do it.”

Look for another shoe-donation campaign this fall.