In Gwinnett County, one child’s new shoes came with a little celebration. Shermaine Morrison, vice president of Kicks For Class, told FOX 5 Atlanta that she brought a pair to a girl with six siblings. The girl danced after seeing them, Morrison recalled, excited that they would go with a new pair of pants she had received.
Morrison’s account is specific but limited. FOX 5 did not name the girl or her school; the report mentions only that she has six siblings. That boundary matters in a story about support for children: the moment can be reported without turning a family into a case study.
FOX 5 published its report on Oct. 12 after speaking directly with Morrison and founder Romaine Byrd. It described Kicks For Class as a nonprofit founded by military veterans who wanted to continue serving their communities. The group began during the summer and is currently focused on children in Gwinnett County, the station reported.
Byrd’s reason for starting the organization is personal. He told FOX 5 that he remembers struggling as a child to have proper shoes and clothes for school. That account of his childhood and motivation comes from his interview with the station.
Before forming the nonprofit, Byrd had been giving shoes to children himself. FOX 5 reported that this effort grew into a more organized project after he decided to establish Kicks For Class. Byrd described inadequate footwear as something that can weigh on a student’s self-esteem and mindset when walking into a classroom. That is his stated motivation for the work, not a claim that shoes alone determine a child’s academic outcome.
Kicks For Class describes its shoe assistance as providing new footwear to school-age children in families facing financial hardship. Its homepage separately reports 32 children served and more than 68 shoes distributed. It also lists other forms of community support, so the shoe total should not be read as an audited count of shoe-assistance awards. These figures are the organization’s own, not an independent audit.
The organization’s shoe-assistance page says families may qualify if they have school-age children, participate in the free or reduced-price lunch program, live in Georgia and complete an application. It says requests are reviewed against available resources and that submitting one does not guarantee support. Assistance may cover more than one child in a household, according to the page.
When checked on Oct. 15, the shoe-assistance page said applications were closed. It also said applying is free and that help depends on funding, inventory and availability. Families should check the page for any change before relying on that status; the FOX 5 report was not an announcement that intake was open.
Neighbors who want to contribute have another option listed by the organization. Its homepage, checked Oct. 15, lists a sneaker drive with the Andrew & Walter Young Family YMCA and asks supporters to commit and deliver brand-new sneakers by Oct. 30 in Atlanta. The drive is separate from the shoe-assistance application, so a donation should not be read as a promise of help to any particular family.
The organization’s homepage says it serves Georgia, while FOX 5 reported that its distribution focus was Gwinnett County. Morrison told the station that leaders hope to expand across the state, but no dates for services in additional counties had been announced. The distinction helps keep the group’s statewide mission separate from its reported current reach.
The organization’s About page describes a mission of removing barriers for students and lists Byrd as founder and Ron Williams as co-founder. Byrd’s personal account of struggling to find proper shoes and clothes for school came from his interview with FOX 5; it should not be presented as a documented organizational origin story beyond what he told the station.
The brief scene Morrison described remains the story’s most memorable detail: the girl danced and connected the shoes to a pair of new pants. It offers a glimpse of one handoff, not a claim about every family’s experience or a promise about what the program can provide. For the latest assistance or donation information, families and supporters can check the organization’s pages directly.
Reader responses