Students at Horton Elementary received brand new shoes thanks to the nonprofit Soles4Souls, which aims to give children experiencing homelessness new footwear.

SAN DIEGO — Children at Horton Elementary in Chollas View received a special gift Thursday: new shoes! 

The auditorium Thursday morning was buzzing with excitement.

“There’s these beige shoes that are really cute,” said 10-year-old Ariana, a fifth grader at Horton. 

She said she couldn’t wait to try on a new pair. 

The nonprofit group, Soles4Souls, teamed up with Foot Locker, Voya Financial, and the Boys & Girls Club to gift children experiencing homelessness with new shoes to help build their confidence. Many of the children who received new shoes aren’t experiencing homelessness, but everyone who showed up was fitted with a new pair.

“Horton is a very high needs school,” said Principal Danielle Garegnani. “In San Diego Unified, it [has] one of the highest percentages of homeless youth in our district. We thought it was a beautiful opportunity to support our students with the most basic needs, which are shoes.”

According to Tiffany Turner with Soles4Souls, the initiative taps into something deeply meaningful for children. 

“We all can remember what it was like as a child to get new shoes. There’s just something special about getting shoes. There’s a lot of excitement in the room, there’s a lot of variety in the styles and colors. We try to really meet the child’s preferences as well as the need,” Turner said.

The idea behind gifting children shoes is it allows them to attend school, participate in sports and stay active, which can lead to a brighter future.

Ariana sat down with volunteers and tried on two different pairs of shoes: a gray pair of New Balance and a Black pair of Shaq high tops. She chose the black high tops.

“I’m pretty excited,” she smiled.

She posed for a photo, holding a shopping bag with her new shoes. She said she plans to wear them to school tomorrow. 

Soles4Souls also held an event at a Boys and Girls Club location in Logan Heights Thursday afternoon.