Back to school shoe drive brings in hundreds of new shoes for local students

ELIZABETHTOWN, KY (Aug. 16, 2024) – Kids throughout several counties are benefitting from a shoe drive held as part of Baptist Health’s 100 Days of Service campaign marking the health system’s centennial.

Baptist Health Hardin physicians and staff contributed more than 350 pairs of shoes for students of Hardin County Schools, Meade County Schools, LaRue County Schools and Elizabethtown Independent Schools. Shoe deliveries took place over a week and half to local schools and concluded earlier this week.

The shoes were not randomly selected. Students who signed up to receive the shoes were also able to express their wishes about the types of shoes they wanted to receive. Shoes of all brands, colors and sizes were specifically selected.

“Good health means making sure our children have their basic needs met,” said hospital President Robert Ramey. “Many of our local families struggle with the long list of items needed for back-to-school. Our staff was excited to contribute to these kids having the shoes they need, but even bigger is that the kids would be excited in receiving exactly what they wanted.”

Shoes and monetary donations were made through Baptist Health Foundation Hardin in collaboration with Julie Sutton’s Shoes, an endowment fund to help students receive new shoes. A card was placed inside each shoe box that told Sutton’s story. A lifelong educator in Meade County, Sutton was known for her dedicated to the well-being of her students and was often assigned students who needed more care and guidance. An avid runner and hiker, Sutton appreciated the confidence and strength that comes from getting new shoes. The shoes are donated with hopes that they will “help propel students in learning and in life.”

"Julie came from a big family – dad worked, and mom didn't, so they had what they needed but not a lot extra," said Julie's husband Jason Sutton. "She loved shoes, she was a teacher and always loved to have a good pair of shoes to be up and walking."

 According to Sutton, when Julie was diagnosed with cancer, an idea was conceived to do something that would both honor her and have personal meaning for her, and Julie Sutton’s Shoes was born. An endowment fund was established with Central Kentucky Community Foundation, and goal was set to raise $250,000. Sutton said the fund has raised about $160,000 to date.

 Since Julie Sutton’s Shoes collaborated with Baptist Health’s 100 Days of Service campaign to provide 350 kids with shoes, the reach into the endowment was limited. Baptist Health Hardin's contribution helped advance the mission to deliver new shoes, while saving much of the remaining funds to grow with interest to continue to help more children into the future.

 In 2024, Baptist Health celebrates its 100th anniversary, and has marked each month with a health-related “gift” to its communities. In July, hospital leaders and staff held a clean-up day, where they cleaned at performed general maintenance at North Park Elementary School in Radcliff. 

 The original Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville opened its doors in November 1924 following years of rallying community support and fundraising. Baptist Health has since expanded to nine hospitals and more than 2,700 licensed beds, reaching nearly 75 percent of Kentucky residents and a wide swath of southern Indiana.