DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An Iowa woman is running barefoot across America.

Eighteen-year-old Rae Heim says what started out as a personal adventure also has become a fundraiser for Soles4Souls, a charity that supplies shoes to needy kids.

Heim is from Caroll, Iowa. She started her cross-country trek in Boston in April and hopes to reach Huntington Beach in California in October. She's raised $2,900 so far, which she says should buy 2,900 pairs of shoes for the charity.

She told the Des Moines Register ( http://dmreg.co/MDWxAT ) this week that she started the run to see if she could do it.

Heim began running barefoot after breaking a toe last year and shedding her running shoes for comfort. She says shoes now are like dead weight.

She says, "We are born to run barefoot."

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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com