When one woman from Arkansas took her children shopping for shoes, she had no idea her day would turn into something much bigger. By the end of the day, she helped both a closing store and many who needed a new pair of sneakers…
A Daughter’s Surprising Request For Shoes
At first, Carrie Jernigan, an attorney from Arkansas, simply wanted to take her three kids shopping for new shoes. So, as any parent would, Jernigan started searching for a bargain. Soon, she found a Payless ShoeSource going out of business. The retailer had recently announced a massive liquidation of all their merchandise, as they are closing all United States locations. Jernigan knew that she could score a sizeable discount on shoes for her three children.
When they arrived, Jernigan’s kids started pouring over all the available shows. After looking at the shoes for a while, her daughter showed what an incredible child she is: she asked her mother if they could buy a pair of shoes for her classmate. Of course, the Arkansas attorney agreed right away.
Jernigan’s daughter picked out a pair of Avengers-themed shoes, as her classmate adored the film. While picking out her daughter’s classmate’s new shoes, a fantastic idea popped into Jernigan’s head…
A Joke Turned Serious
As the cashier started ringing her family up, Carrie Jernigan had an exciting idea pop into her head. She wondered if she could follow her daughter’s example and do something good for the world. “I just said, ‘How much for the rest of the shoes in the store?’ I was almost joking, and I could see the clerk’s face and her wheels start to turn, and she finished checking me out. She said, ‘Can I have your number?'” Jernigan recalls.
The attorney’s joke turned serious fairly quickly. Not long after, the store manager called Jernigan. The manager told her that they had around 1,500 left in stock. So, the lawyer decided to follow in her daughter’s footsteps and purchased all the shoes the very next day. In total, she bought nearly $21,000 in shoes! In fact, Jernigan helped out the Payless considerably, as they had feared eating a large portion of the unsold shoes.
Now, Jernigan needed to determine the best way to distribute the shoes to those who needed them.
Hoping for A Better Future
After she took all the boxes home, Carrie Jernigan needed to figure out how to get the shoes to children and adults who needed them. So, she teamed up with the local school board’s president to get the shoes where they needed to go before school starts. About 1,100 pairs out of the 1,500 will go to children in need. The rest will go to adults who need shoes, like those in poverty or homeless.
“I always tell my kids, if you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they say be kind, and so I don’t care what they do in life as long as they are kind and good people. And so it just reiterates to me that their hearts are in the right place, and if it’s in the right place they can do amazing things,” Jernigan told local radio KFSM.
Well, this caring mother certainly taught the world a valuable lesson in generosity and stepping up when you can. Hopefully, many more follow in her footsteps!