CRAIG COUNTY, Va. – More than 600 students received a new pair of shoes Thursday at Craig County High School.
"I hope that they all know that they are precious and they are worthy and they are great. I hope that they will show love in the same way that's been given to them," said Loraine Taylor, senior pastor at Grace Assembly of God in Catawba.
Taylor is behind the delivery to county students after an anonymous donor called the church with the offer.
"I wear out shoes very quick and I have to wait till the end of May to get a new pair and I desperately needed a new pair because, yeah, they're pretty bad," said Thomas Shaw, a junior at Craig County High School.
The timing is perfect for Shaw.
"I really, really needed this today. I'm just really happy to have something that I can wear without, you know, water soaking through and all that," said Shaw.
It was an act of kindness that filled a need in a school district where 50 percent of students are on free or reduced lunches.
"For some people, all they have is the shirt on their back or an old pair of shoes on their feet, so I'm sure this is a really huge thing for them," said Mackenzie Fisher, a junior at Craig County High.
It's a lesson educators hope the students never forget and pay it forwards some day.
"When they see someone in need as they grow up, that they will also extend that act of kindness," Superintendent Jeanette Warwick said.