Carolina Panthers visit Wilmington schools to give every student a new pair of shoes

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — The Carolina Panthers made a special visit to two Wilmington elementary schools to pass out free pairs of shoes on Tuesday.

Every student at Bradley Creek and Sunset Park elementary schools received a brand-new free pair of shoes thanks to a partnership between the Carolina Panthers and Samaritan’s Feet.

Over the years, they’ve given new shoes to all third-grade students at a number of schools in North and South Carolina.

New Hanover County high school students helped each of the 3rd graders select a perfect-fitting shoe.

David Stogdill is the Manager of Education for the Carolina Panthers.

He says the gift of shoes ties into the team’s “play 60” initiative.

“The Panthers have supported active play, physical activity, and we encourage students to get 60 minutes of play every single day, and if you have a brand new pair of shoes, you’re more likely to do that, and if you have a healthy body, then you have a healthy mind and you can be a better student,” said Stogdill.

Samaritan’s Feet International Chief Program Officer, Kirsten Kays, says this has a deeper meaning for the organization than the sole of a shoe.

“Our goal is to provide love. So we steward love and joy to everybody that we distribute shoes to and to see children show you how high they can jump, because in some cases it’s their very first pair of new shoes, we only distribute new shoes, or how fast they can run, or truly just to tell you their favorite dream, is an honor,” said Kays.

In total, over 800 students across the two schools received brand new shoes.