Nike announced that it plans to donate 30,000 pairs of its Air Zoom Pulse shoes to health care heroes fighting the COVID-19 outbreak on the front lines. The sneakers will be distributed in hospitals and health care systems in New York City, Chicago, Memphis and Los Angeles, as well as the Veterans Health Administration.
Another 2,500 pairs of the kicks will be donated to hospitals in Barcelona, Berlin, London, Milan, Paris and Belgium. Nike touted the Air Zoom Pulse as the company’s “first shoe designed for the health care athlete, an everyday hero,” in a statement announcing the news. The shoe’s fit, cushioning and traction systems were touted as being designed to keep the foot secure in hospital settings and the shoes themselves were designed with considerations from medical professionals at Oregon Health and Science University and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, in mind.
Nike has partnered with the nonprofit Good360 to donate the shoes in the US and local organizations in Europe to distribute the shoes overseas. The shoe donation is part of the brand’s largest pledge to give away over 140,000 pieces of footwear, apparel and equipment globally amid the pandemic. About 95,000 pairs of soccer socks with “mild compression” will also be given to health care personnel in New York City and Los Angeles through Good360.
Source: Nike.com
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