On Wednesday, pitcher Brent Suter, the Reds and Shoes 4 the Shoeless teamed up to put brand new shoes on the feet of 79 kids at Xavier Jesuit Academy.
Suter was joined by his longtime friend and Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard for the shoe drive, where they were able to provide sneakers and socks to 48 students and 31 of their siblings.
“It was an amazing day,” Suter said. “In the last couple years, I’ve really gotten into appreciating how important the work is that these local organizations are doing -- Sleep in Heavenly Peace with beds, Shoes 4 the Shoeless with sneakers, Freestore Foodbank with meals -- all things a lot of us take for granted that are really essential in life, and some people don’t have access to them. To be able to give shoes to kids who need them is really special.”
The wheels were set in motion last fall when Suter attended a school supply drive organized by the Sam Hubbard Foundation. Inspired by that event and the joy he saw on those kids’ faces that day, Suter sought a way to replicate that -- so he started talking with the Reds Community Fund (RCF) and its Executive Director Charley Frank.
The RCF partnered with several organizations for its annual Community Makeover in 2024, one of which was Shoes 4 the Shoeless. Frank, who is on the organization’s executive board, brought up the idea of doing something with Brent, and the Dayton-based nonprofit was in from the jump. When it came to identifying a specific group to help, all roads led back to another member of the 2024 Makeover, which took place in the Bond Hill neighborhood. Xavier Jesuit Academy was one of the project sites, and with a modest enrollment that would allow for all students to benefit from the initiative, it was the perfect match.
“I come from need. I was these kids and the kids that we serve, so it’s very easy for me to see myself in them,” said John Forde, the Greater Cincinnati area director for Shoes 4 the Shoeless. “It’s very gratifying to be able to give back, to provide something so basic that as an adult I’m blessed to not even think about. I wake up in the morning and choose from a whole bunch. Other kids don’t have that luxury. To be able to provide them a basic need that’s also a critical health need, and then to be joined by the families, the Reds and the Bengals, it’s about so much more than just a pair of shoes.”
Aided by volunteers from the Reds and St. Xavier High School, the children were able to try on different shoes until they found the pair that fit their feet and style. The kids also received a baseball bat and ball set, Reds hat and other gear. After getting their shoes and swag bags, the students were treated to pizza in the cafeteria before returning to the gym for a Q&A session with the athletes.
What made the event even more special was the shoe distribution was not just limited to the students. The school invited the families to come along and enjoy the experience, and any siblings of the students also received shoes.
“It’s not just about the kid in front of us, but it’s also the kid they go home to,” Xavier Jesuit Academy founding principal Kyle Chandler said. “There’s no item in your wardrobe you use more than your shoes, so to have a good pair that doesn’t have holes and has shoelaces that can be tied up is essential for all these kids’ success.”
Chandler is no stranger to the Reds’ community efforts. In addition to being part of the Makeover, he has three sons in the Reds RBI baseball program at the P&G MLB Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy. He knows when the Reds are involved in an event, it will be a home run. But after breaking the news to his students, he knew this one was going to be a grand slam.
“We always finish the school day with a meeting on the front steps,” Chandler said. “And when I made the announcement, the kids were literally cheering as if we had just won the World Series or the Super Bowl.”
Fitting that one of the event participants played in a Super Bowl. Hubbard experienced the big stage firsthand during the Bengals’ magical run in 2022. But on this day, he was just a friend excited to help another friend make a difference in the community.
Suter has known Hubbard since the Bengals star was in sixth grade. The Reds pitcher went to Moeller High School with Hubbard’s brothers, and he has remained close friends with Sam and the family ever since.
“I didn’t know what today was going to look like,” Hubbard said. “Brent invited me, and the Reds put on an amazing event with all these volunteers. You don’t realize how much of a need it is until you’re putting new shoes on the kids. It was a really cool experience.”
Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Reds player Deion Sanders once coined the phrase “Look good, feel good, play good.” That mantra was on full display at Xavier Jesuit Academy on Wednesday afternoon.
The kids raced around the gym to test how fast they could run in their new footwear, compared their color and style choice with their classmates, and most importantly, wore smiles the entire afternoon.
“With a new pair of shoes, you look good,” Chandler said. “And I’m a big proponent of if you look good, you’re more likely to perform at your top level in everything you do. You want kids to walk by a mirror and feel proud of what they see, not ashamed. So this is a great starting point.”
Suter echoed that sentiment.
“It probably translates to better school and athletic performance when you feel confident in what you’re wearing,” he said. “Good stuff happens when you feel good, so to be able to make a small contribution to that is great.”