Eight-year-old Keely Franchini is making a connection between her role as an orphan in Stage Door Productions’ upcoming production of “Annie” and those who really live the “hard-knock life.”

The Lake Tapps Elementary School student has paired up with fellow cast member Dennis Riley to collect shoes for earthquake victims in Haiti.

In less than two weeks Franchini and friends have collected 621 pairs of shoes and a check for $200. The shoes are stacking up in Riley’s Enumclaw garage as he prepares to send them to Haiti.

“That wasn’t why she had the interest, but it heightened it,” Stacy Franchini said of her daughter’s connection to the musical. “She wants to help people in general and she’s always wanted to help orphans. It’s been a wonderful experience.

“It’s been very overwhelming,” said Stacy Franchini, who mentioned Keely’s original goal was 50 pair. “The community has been very supportive.”

At rehearsal one evening, Riley took a few minutes to talk about a friend whose daughter was killed in the earthquake. Molly Hightower worked with Friends of the Orphans, a nonprofit organization that helps more than 30,000 people in Haiti each year and her passion was collecting shoes for the children.

Riley said he was helping out by collecting gently-used shoes to send to Haiti.

Franchini took the information and ran with it.

“She said, “Mom, I really want to help people,’” Stacy Franchini said.

“I got excited about it,” said the young Franchini. She said she had heard Molly’s story and knew her friends would want to help too. “I went to the district and to the school and counselors. I always wanted to help orphans. I knew I had shoes at our house and I knew I could give quite a few.”

In fact, 32 pair, she said, came from the Franchini home.

She presented the plan to leaders at Lake Tapps Elementary where she is a third-grade student. There she teamed up with counselor Deanne Carter. She also got permission to ask for shoe donations at her brother Cole’s school, Dieringer Heights Elementary.

The drive kicked off Feb. 1 and concluded Feb. 8. Franchini created posters for the schools and made an announcement at lunch.

“Footwear – it is a basic need that most of us take for granted every day,” read the announcement Carter said went out in the school. “Americans have an abundance of footwear sitting in our closets. Almost 3 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills each year in the United States. That’s about how many people were effected by the earthquake in Haiti. Your consideration of cleaning out your closets can make a significant difference while children and families walk from the city of Haiti to nearby towns for help. Bring in new or gently used shoes through next Monday to help protect their feet from scrapes, cuts, and contaminants that lead to potentially serious healthcare issues.”

“I love that it was something tangible that many kids had the opportunity to do,” Carter said. “We were very excited to see the kids get involved with little notice and advertising.”

“I was quite shocked by her dedication to making a difference,” Riley said of Franchini. “What’s amazing is she’s a third-grader and she doesn’t know any of these people, but still wanted to make an effort to help them.”