Anyone well above average height can lament about the difficulty of finding clothes that fit and how clothes shopping can be a pricey endeavor. However, imagine how hard it must be for those who are tall, but have landed on hard times and are homeless.
Last year, members of the Lawrence Police Department befriended a 7-foot homeless man in Indiana at a local waffle house. The police officers noticed his shoes were tattered and in threads. Wanting to help, they went on a search to find this man new shoes, his size being 17. The average man’s shoe size is 10.5. In the NBA, the average shoe size is between 14 and 15. One can’t just walk into a local Walmart or shoe store and buy size 17 shoes off the shelf. These police officers reached out Indiana Pacers NBA team to see if they could help.
The Pacers graciously donated a size 17 shoe that had recently been made for a former player in the colors of yellow and blue: The Pacers colors. The police officers presented the new shoes, other clothes and items they were able to gather to the homeless gentlemen at The Waffle House where they first met. When they delivered the new shoes and items to the man, it was said there wasn’t a dry eye in the place among the police officers and Waffle House workers.
Christmas is just around the corner and particularly this time of year is a time to give and care for others. This story is a good reminder that as a tall person, your no longer needed clothes could help tall men in women who are in need.
