(Eden Eskaros, right, with shoe store manager who asked not to be named after donating 43 pairs of shoes for Mexican children. Photo by Pat Loeb)

VOORHEES, N.J. (CBS) – A South Jersey girl is heading to Mexico this Saturday with some very special cargo in her suitcases.

The 10-year-old is taking along more than 1,000 pairs of shoes, for a very good cause.

Eden Eskaros first visited Mexico last year. She says it was an eye-opening experience.

“They live literally in a cement box,” she recalled after seeing one family. “And they have no bed, so they break up cardboard boxes and sleep on that.”

But what struck her most was the children without shoes.

“One of the little girls just started bawling because she couldn’t play with (others) because the ground there cuts up their feet, so her sister actually came with her pair of shoes and they shared — and they’re hopping around on one foot.”

Eden vowed to bring back 100 pairs of shoes. She wrote to her local shoe stores, and one store manager responded by buying and donating 43 pairs of shoes.

Eden leveraged that during a talk to her local church, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge.

“I figured this church wouldn’t want to be outdone by a local shoe store,” she says.

VIDEO: Watch Eden (“Eme”) Eskaros’ inspiring talk to her church

The church, indeed, did not — and donated 1,000 pairs of shoes, which Eden and the team of 20 she’s travelling with will take with them on Saturday.

“I am so excited that we get to do this. I really want to help them,” Eden told KYW Newsradio this morning.

Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060