Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder loves to give back in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It’s where he grew up and got his start on the Wake Forest basketball team, the Demon Deacons. Chris loves to give kids the tools they need to be active and healthy. So this October, The Chris Paul Family Foundation and Rack Room Shoes co-sponsored an exciting day for 500 students at North Hills Elementary. Each of the kids received a new pair of athletic shoes. Shoes that let them run, jump, play basketball, and focus on being a kid instead of on their worn-out or too-small shoes.
Chris’ parents, Robin and Charles Paul, and all four of his grandparents came out to deliver the new sneakers. Robin, Chris’ mother, shared: “This is so exciting, especially for us to bless somebody and to see these kids’ faces. They are so excited!”
One little guy said he was going to “do math better with more comfortable shoes”!
Now this might seem far-fetched. How can shoes help with math? However, we have heard stories from adults who grew up in similar circumstances about how they could not pay attention in class because their feet hurt from wearing shoes that were too small. A comfortable pair of shoes remove that obstacle and let a child focus on their studies instead of their pinched toes. So yes, more comfortable shoes can help kids do better in math!
Our favorite math equation: One new comfy pair of shoes + one kid = two happy feet.
Thank you to Chris Paul and all his family and to Rack Room for helping over 500 kids!