(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Soles4Souls partnered with Metro Nashville Public Schools and the Nashville Predators to distribute roughly 10,000 pairs of shoes to local students in need during the Soles4Summer event.
Soles4Souls and its partner organizations loaded pallets of BOBS from Skechers onto busses destined for 33 Metro schools. School leaders then sorted and distributed the shoes to students in grades pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade.
The shoes-which are especially designed for summer-are intended to provide students with footwear for the season and alleviate the need for families to purchase shoes their young children might quickly outgrow, according to Soles4Souls President and CEO Buddy Teaster.
“We are excited to distribute shoes to so many children in need right in our backyard,” Teaster said. “While receiving a new pair of shoes seems simple, we know from our work with families in more than 125 countries, proper footwear can make a true difference for people living in poverty. Connecting with students in Nashville makes this distribution especially meaningful.”
“It reduces the stress on the parents when they come home with a new pair of shoes,” says Amy Downey, principal at Charlotte Park Elementary where 90% of the student body lives at or below the national poverty rate. ” Parents knowing they have options and that kids can wear these shoes throughout the summer and not have to buy a new pair of shoes until school starts…its a big relief there.”
“Any time you can get a child fitted with some new shoes for the summer, it’s really meaningful,” Mayor Megan Barry said. “We’ve got a 19 percent poverty rate and these kids need shoes. And the fact that Soles4Souls steps up gives 10,000 shoes for Metro Schools students is really impactful.”
This is the third year Soles4Souls has coordinated a major shoe distribution in Nashville. More than 50 percent of the distribution events orchestrated by Soles4Souls take place in the United States.
According to statistics from METRO SOCIAL SERVICES, 30.5 percent of children in Nashville live below the poverty line.
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