NBA star donates hundreds of pairs of shoes to hospital workers in his NC hometown
People donate food, post messages on social media and even clang pots each evening to show their support for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But when you’re a professional athlete, you can afford to do more.
So there was Donald Ingram, father of New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, on Tuesday morning handing out new athletic shoes to employees at UNC Lenoir Health Care, the hospital in Ingram’s hometown about 90 miles east of Raleigh.
Brandon Ingram is donating 982 pairs of Adidas shoes, one pair for every employee at the hospital. UNC Lenoir says it’s the largest single gift its employees have ever received.
“We chose shoes because the workers are on their feet each and every day. We know that there are some tired, aching feet when they get home,” said Donald Ingram, who retired from the city parks and recreation department and now runs the family foundation fueled by his son’s money.
“They’re putting in a lot of hours, so we felt like hey, we’d give them something to comfort their feet,” he said.
Brandon Ingram couldn’t be at Tuesday’s giveaway; he and his Pelicans teammates are in Orlando preparing for their first game in several months when the NBA season resumes Thursday night.
But his presence was everywhere, in the words spoken by hospital CEO Robert Enders and the thank you video the hospital played on a big screen under a portico outside. Dozens of employees who gathered in the 90-degree heat to receive the first batch of shoes waved basketball-shaped fans bearing the phrase “Thank you, Brandon!”
Ingram has an endorsement deal with Adidas, so it’s not surprising that all 982 pairs of shoes were Adidas. But Donald Ingram said the family foundation paid for the shoes, $85,000 in all.
Each hospital employee was asked for their shoe size a couple of months ago, without knowing why. The shoes will all be distributed by the end of Wednesday.
Latasha Parks, a birth registrar in the medical records department, received a black and white pair of Duramo SL running shoes. Parks said her 12-year-old son is a huge fan of Ingram and basketball and would be jealous.
“He may wear the same size shoe I do, so I may have to give these to him,” she said.
Carolyn Dawson, a dietetic technician who has worked at the hospital for 32 years, says her sons, ages 17 and 21, have worn Adidas over the years, but the running shoes she received Tuesday were her first pair.
“I’m so grateful for this right here,” Dawson said clutching the box Donald Ingram had handed to her. “I’m just super excited that he thought of us at the hospital, because our feet are tired.”
Brandon Ingram, 22, was born in this hospital, when it was still known as Lenoir Memorial. It became part of the UNC health system in 2016.
The hospital treated its first COVID-19 patient in March, and has admitted 84 more since, not including those treated and released from the emergency department. The community has rallied around the hospital, providing donated meals from Domino’s pizza and Bojangles’ and N95 masks and other personal protective equipment, said Claire Paris, the chief medical officer.
“We’ve had a lot of good gestures,” Paris said. “But this is a huge morale booster for everyone in the hospital. They can look down and be reminded their hard work pays off.”
With a population of about 20,000, Kinston is small enough that many people know the Ingram family personally.
Brandon Ingram learned basketball here, by playing pickup games with his older brother Donovan and his friends and with coaching from former NBA star and Kinston native Jerry Stackhouse. Ingram helped the Kinston High School Vikings win four consecutive state titles, then spent one season with the Duke Blue Devils before entering the NBA draft in 2016.
Ingram spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, before being traded to the Pelicans last summer. On Thursday, the team will take on the Utah Jazz at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 2:28 PM with the headline "NBA star donates hundreds of pairs of shoes to hospital workers in his NC hometown."
