As football fever builds up around the world, a group of young men here are trying to turn the phenomenon into a hearty cause for Africa and other regions in need by collecting fans’ shirts.

The charity campaign called “Red Shirts Make a Better Place” seeks to send Red Devil shirts donated by Korean fans to underdeveloped nations around the world after the World Cup tournament is over, said Cho Maeng-sub, 34, a lead organizer.

More than 30,000 people have already pledged to donate, and organizers expect the volume will easily surpass 100,000 by the time the tournament ends.

“When the World Cup is over, too many people throw their shirts into their drawers and forget about them. If we can deliver these shirts to those who need them, we will be sending our spirit to them as well,” Cho said.

Cho and three others, all in their 20s and early 30s, started the campaign through its Web site days before the World Cup finals kicked off in South Africa. Daily updates can be read on its twitter account (@forun4me), where messages of support and donation pledges are streaming in.

The World Cup shirts are collected through the 102 nationwide branches of the Beautiful Store, a non-profit organization participating in the campaign as a co-organizer. Markings of Korea or World Cup catchphrases on those shirts won’t matter, said Jeon Sang-joon, a senior staffer from Beautiful Store.

“The shirts go to places where food and clothing are an everyday concern. We usually send printed clothes donated by companies and haven’t seen a big problem,” Jeon said.

The organizers said they hope football fans around the world will join the campaign.

“It’s red shirts in Korea, but we hope there will be blue shirts from Japan, yellow from Brazil, orange from the Netherlands. We really want this to happen around the world,” Cho said.

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