Nine years and 1,000 shoes later, this New Hanover football player is still committed to giving back
As New Hanover football player Gunner Robinson sits in front of a mountain of shoe boxes, he reflects on the genesis of a charity that started by accident.
Since the age of nine, Gunner has collected shoes for his birthday every year and donated them to local schools.
This week, he took all his donations from 2021 and filled up carts and occupied registers at local shoe stores.
Having turned 17 on Monday, Gunner enters his senior year of high school and wants to make sure his charity performs well.
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While he was fascinated by shoes as a child, his reasoning for donating them over other items is more significant.
Every Christmas, the Robinson family sponsored someone in need, collecting items from a wish list. One year, the list included shoes, something that Gunner couldn't let go, even months after the holiday season.
“It really stuck in his mind why she would want shoes for Christmas instead of toys,” Gunner’s mother, Kristi Robinson said. “He said, ‘I’m gonna do something for kids for charity."
Six months later, the 8-year-old still had the idea fresh on his mind. Weeks before his birthday, he asked his parents a peculiar question.
“Can we donate something instead of presents this year?” Gunner asked his mother.
“If that’s what you want, we’ll make it happen,” Kristi replied.
The story could have ended there, if not for Kristi taking to social media to share her son’s request. In case she forgot to call a parent coming to the party, Kristi posted Facebook to ask her friends to bring shoes instead of presents.
“It spread like wildfire. People were like, ‘I know I wasn’t invited to the party, but can I bring you a pair?’ Kristi said.
Suddenly, Gunner was inundated with shoes and donations to his cause.He set a goal of collecting 50 pairs of shoes. By the end, he donated more than 470.
Soon after, Gunner’s Runners was created. The nonprofit provides shoes to social workers, who donate them to various schools in the Wilmington area.
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While they’ve lost count of the total number, a conservative estimate goes past 1,000 shoes in the charity’s lifetime.
COVID-19 put a dent in their progress but Gunner wanted this year’s contributions to soar again.
“The past couple years dealing with COVID, it’s slowed down a bunch. I was only taking maybe 50 pairs or so to the schools to distribute. I know this year we have a good amount to distribute and help people out,” he said.
Gunner made it clear early on that he didn’t want recognition for his work, initially wanting to remain anonymous.
“He doesn’t want a pat on the back for it. He doesn’t want the kids at school to know where it came from.” Kristi said.
As Gunner enters his senior year of high school, it’s unclear what the future will hold for his charity. But right now, he continues to push forward with the intentions that he’s had since he was a child.
“It’s a good feeling knowing you gave back and people are going into school with new shoes," he said. "It makes you feel good how there’s still good people in the world. Everybody just comes together to help.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover football player has been giving to Wilmington since age 9
