San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is set to provide new shoes to the students enrolled at the San Antonio School District’s Pershing Elementary through a donation to Shoes That Fit.
Shoes That Fit selected each pair of sneakers after measurements were taken from each student. More than 95 percent of the students at the school in the impoverished area of San Antonio are are economically disadvantaged, the San Antonio Express-News reports.
“You go to a school and you see those little kids going crazy over a new pair of gym shoes, you’ll know why it’s important,” Popovich told the Express-News.
The Shoes that Fit is a national nonprofit organization based in Claremont, Calif. It delivered new shoes to more than 120,000 children in 2,300 schools across 45 states.
“When a little boy or little girl comes up and has that box with their shoes in it and has their name on it and everything, it’s like gold to them,” Popovich said. “You see their faces, and you know it’s a heck of a program.”
Popovich’s political commentaries have sparked much public controversy in the past. But his benevolence in the shoe program is one of the best ways for a sports figure to help the needy over the Christmas holidays.
