Educator uses footwear to show tobacco deaths

Puneet Khan sometimes argues with her father about the number 1,200.

He simply can't believe that's how many people die -- daily -- from tobacco related deaths in the United States. Khan says he argues it must be a longer time frame.

Nope.

"It's not 1,200 people a month or a week. It's 1,200 a day," the educator with the DuPage County Health Department said.

Looking for a way to illustrate the problem, Khan worked with the Students for Students club at Glenbard West High School to collect 1,200 pair of shoes this year.

Last month, they lined them up on a hill outside the Glen Ellyn school to show students the number of individuals affected daily by tobacco and second-hand smoke.

"What it did was it sparked a discussion, and that was our intention," said Gilda Ross, special-events counselor at Glenbard High School District 87.

On Wednesday, the display moved to a wider audience -- in front of the DuPage County Health Department building in Wheaton.

The shoes started at Manchester Road and stretched along County Farm Road, eventually leading into the entrance to the building.

Khan plans a few more displays across the county in the coming months and after that, will donate the shoes to charity and social-service agencies.