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New shoes for Southside Elementary

T-G STAFF REPORT
Posted 3/14/23

Samaritan’s Feet representative Alicia Morrow met with the teachers at Southside Elementary Friday to present the plan to distribute free tennis shoes to all students at the elementary …

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New shoes for Southside Elementary

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Samaritan’s Feet representative Alicia Morrow met with the teachers at Southside Elementary Friday to present the plan to distribute free tennis shoes to all students at the elementary school. 

This is part of an initiative by Nashville Market’s cityCURRENT and their events manager Eileen Vick. Eileen along with her husband, Greg Vick, are hoping to expand this program to other schools in Bedford. 

“We can use this here in Bedford County. I wanted to find a way we can introduce this to our kids because most of this is done in inner city schools. But poverty goes everywhere…” said Greg Vick. 

The sponsor for the shoes from Samaritan’s Feet was given by The Boedecker Foundation after a collaboration was made by Tennessee Downs Auto Club. 

A $10,000 donation was made as a result. That $10,000 covers the cost of 487 shoes, according to Vick, which fit the population of Southside Elementary. Vick said through this first initiative in Bedford, they hope to garner more sponsors in the upcoming years to provide shoes to all the elementaries. 

Volunteers will assist in sorting shoes, socks, sizes and backpacks that will be distributed to all students at Southside Elementary on May 19. 

Samaritan’s Feet is a humanitarian aid organization that provides shoes to those in need around the world. 

Since its founding in 2003, Samaritan’s Feet and its partners have served people across 109 countries and 550 U.S. cities. They have distributed 9.3 million shoes around the world and hope to reach 10 million this year.

According to Morrow, some 1.5 billion people around the world are affected by diseases transmitted from the soil to bare feet. 

And students who do not have good shoes — ones that are broken or don’t fit — tend to isolate themselves, especially when doing physical activities. 

The sponsors and collaborators of the event know the meaning of a good pair of shoes.  

George B. Boedecker Jr., an entrepreneur and humanitarian who created the foundation in 2009, is the principal founder and creative force behind Crocs, Inc.

Additionally, cityCURRENT, a privately funded entity, has worked with several nonprofits and schools in Nashville and surrounding counties to provide shoes to those in need alongside Samaritan’s Feet.