December 10, 2024
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
Rutherford County Schools
Buchanan Elementary School students — all 474 of them – at Buchanan Elementary School were gifted with a new pair of shoes and socks Tuesday morning.
Soles4Souls partners with Rutherford County Schools throughout the school year to provide shoes to students in need of a new pair. Tuesday’s giveaway was made possible thanks to a pilot program led by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
TVA has donated $25,000 to assist Soles4Souls in serving 1,250 children in Tennessee and Kentucky.
“We are so blessed to have this opportunity, and we could not thank Soles4Souls and the TVA enough for providing it,” Principal Ashley Witt said. “We are extremely grateful that we were the school that was chosen. I cannot express thanks enough for what this means for our families.”
Gary Harris, TVA’s regional director of government and community relations, said being able to lead such an initiative in the city he calls home was an honor.
“Major urban areas are always chosen for things like this, but we wanted to focus on rural and smaller communities first. The $25,000 we set aside for this will go a long way and I believe it’ll have a bigger impact,” Harris said. “We’re looking for more ways to get involved.”
Students were sized for shoes earlier prior to the event, which has been five months in the making. They had no idea until Witt delivered the morning’s announcements.
“This is going to be a wonderful treat for all of our families, so to be able to keep it a surprise from them has been very difficult because I like to share good news,” Witt said.
With winter break just around the corner, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“I’ve done this for 13 years and it never gets old,” said Tiffany Turner, Soles4Souls’ vice president of outreach.
A group of parent volunteers known as the Hornet Helpers sorted the shoes and bundled socks the day before the event. Employees from TVA, Middle Tennessee Electric, the RCS Central Office and School Resource Officers helped students to find the right pair and managed inventory.
More than 700 pairs of shoes were sent to Buchanan, but less than 500 were handed out. The remainder will be made available to students in the district’s ATLAS program, which serves students experiencing homelessness.