Image Source: Courtesy of New Balance
Nike and Hoka One One recently announced their efforts to donate sneakers to healthcare workers on the front lines of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Now, New Balance is doing the same. The sports footwear and apparel company is teaming up with its sponsored athletes to donate $1 million worth of sneakers to front-line medical workers, which equals more than 13,000 pairs of shoes. The donation includes a range of athletic shoes including the Fresh Foam Beacon seen above, a spokesperson confirmed.
These shoes, meant to support workers dedicating long hours of their time to treating patients of the pandemic, will be going to hospitals in New England and St. Louis areas. These are places where, according to a press release, New Balance associates live and work. New Balance is working directly with hospitals including Lawrence General Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Stephens Memorial Hospital, Franklin Memorial Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Back in March, New Balance committed $2 million in nonprofit grants to organizations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, like No Kid Hungry, GlobalGiving, and the Boston Resiliency Fund. The company is also currently producing more than 100,000 general-use face masks per week.
A New Balance spokesperson told POPSUGAR that while hospitals outside of the aforementioned areas cannot send in requests for sneakers at the moment, they can request donations for the general-use face masks (find information about that here).
Watch the sneaker donation announcement video from New Balance athletes such as Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin and FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Rose Lavelle below.
To the medical workers on the frontlines, thank you.
– #TeamNB pic.twitter.com/A60iyeUyK5
— New Balance (@newbalance) May 6, 2020