Sneakerheads to gift Rochester kids any shoe of their choice in honor of a late family member

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – A unique non-profit is helping dozens of kids step forward in confidence.

Dayna’s Footprints plans to gift more than 80 kids in the Rochester Jeremiah Program a free pair of shoes of their choice from Scheels on Saturday morning.

Dayna’s Footprints combats educational inequalities through the gift of shoes and mentorship.

The non-profit was originally founded in Dallas, Texas, but plans to host its first event in southeast Minnesota to continue the legacy of the women it was founded after.

As children, founders Sam Sayed and his brother lived in a low-income household.

With the loss of their mother at a young age, their sister Dayna, who was born in Minnesota, became a mother figure and took a summer job at a shoe store.

Dayna gifted her brothers their first pair of name-brand shoes in the summer of 1996.

Walking around in his new sneakers, Sayed felt empowered to go to school each day.

“You feel a little bit more confident and the downstream effects of that show that you’re just going to have a better day,” Sayed said.

Just a year later, Dayna unfortunately lost her life to gun violence at just 16 years old.

In 2018, the brothers founded the nonprofit in honor of her. Just like them, to make sure kids in under-served communities are feeling and looking good and to have the ability to achieve their dreams.

“This little gesture that we’re doing for these kids. Yeah, the shoes will one day wear off but the feeling that we leave inside of them will not,” Sayed said.

Scheels will be opening their doors an hour early to accommodate the big group.

Dayna’s footprint plans to host this event annually and is looking to partner with other organizations in the area. Click here to get involved.

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