By Kevin Morley, DAT, ATC
Head Athletic Trainer, Nashville Predators

Like most clubs, the Nashville Predators have a Community Relations/Foundation group dedicated to fundraising, philanthropy, and generally spreading joy throughout the community.  The Preds Foundation hosts more events than any of us on the hockey staff could ever hope to attend, but I was able to fit one event into my schedule this summer that really made an impression on me. 

One of the charitable groups the Preds partner with is a local Nashville-based non-profit called Soles4Souls (https://soles4souls.org/).  S4S is a nationwide organization that many PHATS/SPHEM/SCAPH members have probably heard of, and likely donated shoes and/or clothes to at some point.  S4S “turns shoes and clothing into opportunities for education and employment so they can have a more hopeful future;” through a variety of programs both domestic and international.  Among their endeavors are programs called 4Relief, 4Opportunity, 4EveryKid, and 4ThePlanet.  Each of these programs sets forth to address a different need or disrupt the cycle of poverty in a different way.  I’m not an expert on each program, but if you want to learn more about them, their website explains them all.  

Like most of us, my family and I regularly donate shoes or clothes, usually to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or another local organization.  After donating, I drive away, pat myself on the back for doing “good” that day, and don’t think of it again.  My opportunity to travel with S4S this summer gave me a chance to watch that process come full circle; and to see how impactful these donations can be.

The Preds Foundation has gone on several trip with S4S over the years, but this was the first one that I could fit into my schedule.  A group of 8 Preds employees, half of whom I’d never even met before, traveled from Nashville to Antigua, Guatemala to connect with our Nashville-based S4S host, and our Guatemala City-based in-country host.  S4S has partners in several different places in Central America & the Caribbean; but we lucked out in picking a beautiful, safe, friendly, and easily navigable city, not to mention the best in-country host out there!  

After landing in Guatemala City and traveling to Antigua – not a terribly far drive, but it took forever because of traffic, sketchy roads, and more traffic, we settled in.  There was a quick orientation and get-to-know-you session but then we went to work sorting shoes.  We were there for three “distribution” events.  Our host, Jenn, had it all dialed in.  We were going to travel into VERY underserved communities and distribute new shoes to kids in schools.  Sounds easy right?  In theory, it is.  

First, we pulled the shoes – a LOT of shoes – from the warehouse (aka The Shoe House because it’s cheaper for them to rent a condo than it is to rent a warehouse) and put them in huge bags by size.  Then we were ready for the distribution.  I don’t know how far we traveled in miles or kilometers, but I have a hunch it wasn’t very far.  As we got closer to the distribution site, the roads got sketchier and the traffic started to include dogs, and I mean a LOT of dogs, stalled cars, people on foot, and more dogs.  It took a long time to go a very short distance. 

The distributions are by far the most powerful thing I’ve done in a very long time.  Maybe ever (besides the births of my kids although I didn’t really do anything terribly helpful on those days – ask my wife). 

The first distribution was broken up into two sessions at the same school.  We saw the equivalent of kindergarten through 3^rd grade in the morning, and 4^th through 6^th grades in the afternoon.  The system is basic.  The kids form a line, they take off one shoe and put their foot on a sizing guide.  We write their shoe size on a little sticker, put the sticker on their hand or forehead or nose, and send them off to the fitting stations.  Once there, the kids sit down, we greet them in our very best “Spanish I learned in Connecticut from a French lady in 1993,” coupled with some sign language and then we start trying on shoes. 

All the shoes used in distributions are new – the ones we donate here in North America are used, but not for this specific purpose.  The shoes we had access to were essentially Crocs, and these kids were fired up when they saw them.   Once we agree that the Crocs fit, we send them off to the “tienda” because who doesn’t like free stuff?  We were prepared, so we brought tons of stuff from home.  Think about the stuff your kids get when they leave the dentist, it was that kind of stuff.  Toy cars, stickers upon stickers, yo-yos, jump ropes, plastic combs, brushes, hair scrunchies – you get the idea.  The kids were pumped about these items, but the next best thing were toothbrushes.  We’d asked our team dentists at Vanderbilt if they had any extras we could take with us.  Seven-hundred and fifty toothbrushes later (I had a great time trying to fit all of those in my suitcase!), we had oral hygiene gifts for the kids too.  And no, we’re not heartless.  They didn’t have to pick between a toy car and a toothbrush – they got both!  The afternoon session of older kids was a carbon copy of the morning session with the younger kids.  In total, we distributed about 865 pairs of shoes that day.  The following day, after another trip to The Shoe House to restock, was a different location, but the same general idea as day one.  Day two was an easier day, with only about 300 kids.  In total we distributed just shy of 1200 pairs of shoes.  That’s roughly 2400 feet!  So if you’re not into feet, you should get yourself assigned to the tienda if you ever take a S4S trip!

Ultimately, for me, this was a powerful experience for a few reasons.  It’s hard not to compare yourself, or your community to the one that you’re visiting.  By all conventional standards, the communities where we did the distributions would be considered “poor” or “underserved” or whatever label you want to use.  Sure, they had “less” financially than most of us have.  But it got me thinking about how “poor” is such a relative term.  Next to the highest paid NHL player, we’re poor.  But next to a highschool kid making minimum wage, we’re rich.  While the people in these communities have likely never shopped at Whole Foods (I don’t either.  Who can afford that place?  It’s a total racket.), does that make them poor?  My high school Spanish that I mentioned before allowed me to have some basic conversations, where I learned that these kids had families, they had homes that provided some level of shelter and safety, they had faith (there are churches EVERYWHERE), they had some level of education, they had futbol, and now they had new shoes!  What else does a kid in Central America need?  

So, 1200 pairs of shoes later, I had some feel-good moments when I connected with some kids.  I think some were very intimidated by the scope of all of this, and the Americans running around in obnoxious gold t-shirts babbling in English about zapatos, but some of them really lit up when we tried to speak their language, and when we kicked the soccer ball with them in the school courtyard. 

We didn’t fit any parents for shoes, but there were a lot of moms and aunts and abuelitas there, with kids in tow, and seeing the joy on their faces, knowing that their kids got a brand-new pair of shoes, potentially for the first time ever, was cool.  I know it was just a drop in the bucket, so I’m not going to hurt my shoulder patting myself on the back, but it was an incredible experience that I got to share with 7 co-workers and 1200 Guatemalan kids.  

Oh, and on the last day we got to hike to the top(ish) of a volcano and roast marshmallows in the steam coming from an old lava flow.  We also had two locals make us a pizza in a coal oven heated by the lava steam.  So, it wasn’t all philanthropy.  As I reflect on this trip, I realize that everyone involved benefited in some way, and for that realization I am eternally grateful that I had this opportunity.  

Scan this QR code to watch a short video recapping the trip!

All photos courtesy of Kevin Morley.