Heart and Sole: Rotary Clubs partner in annual event to help JMCSS students

The gym at Thelma Barker Elementary School had a different look on the morning of Tuesday, May 14.

Two rows of chairs were lined up facing each other on one baseline under a basketball goal.

On the opposite side from the entrance from the rest of the school, there were a number of tables and tall stacks of shoe boxes.

There was also a table with men pouring water into dishpans and relaying them to the chair lines.

It was time for the fifth annual Heart and Sole shoe giveaway by the two Rotary clubs in Jackson – Old Hickory Rotary Club and Jackson Rotary Club.

Shelley Hayes, the former president of the Old Hickory Rotary Club, is the one that brought the effort to Jackson and still coordinates it five years later.

“We’ve had a few changes over the years, but we like where we’re at right now,” said Hayes, who first coordinated the event with Samaritan’s Feet.

But after the first couple years, the primary contact at Samaritan’s Feet retired, but Hayes and the Rotary Clubs picked up the slack to continue to put shoes on the feet of children in Jackson-Madison County Schools.

“I don’t think a lot of people around here understand the need our community has for shoes in this area,” Hayes said. “A lot of children here have adequate shoes to wear that are comfortable and functional, but at the same time, there are a lot of kids in Jackson who don’t have that.”

Hayes has told stories in past years of shoes that had to be worked off children’s feet because it had been so long since the child had gotten a new pair of shoes that their feet had grown so much that it was an effort to get a pair of shoes on or off the feet.

One unique story in this year’s event was when one of the teachers came to Nick Hayes, Shelley’s husband and the general manager of Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical, who manned the entrance and made sure each class was signed in and every child’s shoes taken care of.

“We’ve got a new student from Ecuador who literally came into town last week and wasn’t here for when the kids were sized for shoes. Can we still get her a pair of shoes somehow?” a teacher asked.

“Yes ma’am. We’ll take care of her,” Nick Hayes said.

The student is still learning English, but the teacher was able to communicate to her that she was getting a new pair of shoes, to which she reacted with a large smile.

Representatives from Rotary came to Thelma Barker in April to get all the students’ shoe sizes for every class in the school. They then placed an order for all the shoes and some extras to supply shoes for the entire student body.

“We’ve also partnered with a different representative for shoes, and that’s a good thing because we’re paying a little more, but we’re giving each child a better quality of shoe,” Shelley Hayes said.

Both Rotary Clubs get donations from their members and friends of their members to raise the funds to purchase the shoes, which is about $34,000. Each child received a pair of Nike shoes.

They also asked for volunteers, which were the people who were present for the event. They numbered about 100 volunteers with half the group putting a new pair of shoes and socks on the children’s feet and washing their feet if they didn’t respectfully decline it.

“Hey those toe nails are painted nicely. Do you get a pedicure?” United Way’s Mark Cancia asked a child he was helping, to which she replied with a no. “I don’t either,” Cancia said.

The clubs give shoes to students at one school per year, and it’s an elementary school in JMCSS.

“This is an effort that I’m proud of both Rotary clubs for working together for the good of kids in Jackson,” Shelley Hayes said. “I appreciate everyone’s help.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news