PUBLISHED 09/22/2006
The Good Samaritan: Ana Weir
By Amy Gorin
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| © Patrick Voight |
When Ana Weir travels, she doesn't pack lightly. In March, the Boulder, Colorado, ER nurse delivered 200 pairs of running shoes to the town of Tela in her native Honduras. There, she met with school children and their parents to teach them about the benefits of exercise and lead them on a two-mile fun run. This was one of five trips that Weir, 47, took in 2005 as director of One World Running, a nonprofit organization that donates "nearly new" running shoes to people in developing countries. With Weir at the helm, One World Running has collected 38,000 pairs of shoes, and she's expanded the organization (originally called Shoes for Africa) by making self-financed trips to other areas, including Venezuela, Haiti, and Mexico, where running shoes can cost a year's income. "The best part is getting hugs from people after I give them their first pair," she says. "You see the joy that shoes--and running--can bring to their lives."
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