St. Petersburg College Professor Donates Hundreds Of Shoes To Kids

TARPON SPRINGS, FL — When St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs Professor Jacques Hakim was growing up in Lebanon, his family had little money. Each year when school started, Hakim said if he was able to get a new pair of shoes, it was transformative.

That’s why, when he was looking for a way to help those struggling in the community, he decided to donate 500 pairs of shoes to needy children in Pasco County.

“We were talking about the kids going back to school, and how a lot of them can’t afford new shoes,” Hakim said. “I remember when I was a kid, if I got new shoes, I felt like I could run faster and jump higher. It affected my self-confidence.”

Filling A Need

Hakim, who has been teaching finance and banking at SPC for 11 years, is also an entrepreneur whose business ventures include an online retailer, goSASS.com. Last year, when he decided to help, school was about to start and time was crunched.

“I only had about a week and a half to come up with shoes,” he said. “I bought 250 pairs, and vowed to have 500 the next year.”

Hakim made that goal, and over the next year, when buying shoes for his retail business, he set 10 percent of the pairs aside to donate. He hopes to double the number every year.

“We want to make sure that no kid goes to school any given year without brand-new shoes on their feet,” he said.

Hakim delivered the shoes during an event in which he was joined by U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells, representatives from FBI Tampa and Pasco County School Superintendent Kurt Browning. The schools will distribute the shoes through clothing closets and school social workers.

Dreams Do Come True

Hakim left Lebanon at the age of 18, with his 16-year-old brother and $400 in his pocket. The boys joined their cousins in New York and began the process of learning English and making the American dream a reality. Hakim enrolled at a community college in New Jersey, earned his bachelor’s from Rutgers and then an MBA from the University of Connecticut.

“I was the architect of my own destiny,” he said. “You have to believe in what you want to do and see it and go for it.”

Hakim’s work doesn’t end with the annual shoe donation. In addition to huge clothing and toy donations, he’s also heavily involved with his church and his community. When recently a young girl and her grandmother were invited into Hakim’s warehouse to select some free items, the girl told him that no one had ever done anything like that for her.

“I just told her, ‘Remember this, and when you grow older and can, do this for someone else,’” he said. “It’s not about the thanks, but it really made me feel like we were reaching the right people.”

This story was provided by St. Petersburg College.