Instead Of B-Day Gifts, This Boy Asks For Shoes For People In Need

This kid has sole.

For the third year in a row, Gunner Robinson of Wilmington, North Carolina, has asked for shoe donations instead of presents for his birthday on August 15. Each pair goes to a kid in his community that needs shoes for the upcoming school year, according to WWAY.

So far, the 10-year-old has given out 600 pairs with his organization Gunner’s Runners.

“I’ve always got shoes, like new shoes for school, nice ones, and I want other kids to get them, too,” Gunner told the outlet.

Thanks to a large donation from the Pender High School’s Class of 1991 reunion, Gunner was able to buy 30 pairs of shoes on August 6. Donation boxes have been set up around Wilmington, and once all the shoes have been collected after his eleventh birthday, the family will give them to a social worker who will distribute them to kids before school starts.

Gunner’s mom, Kristi Robinson, tells Inside Edition she thinks her son’s drive to help kids out stems from a girl they sponsored in Christmas 2013. The family bought presents for the girl, but what resonated with Gunner was that if his family hadn’t bought her shoes, she wouldn’t have a pair to wear.

“That just stuck with him for some reason,” his mom told InsideEdition.com.

The next year, when Robinson asked her son what he wanted for his birthday, he asked for shoes to donate to other kids. Robinson shared her son’s birthday wish on Facebook and soon enough, people started donating kicks. That first year, Gunner had a goal of collecting 300 shoes and exceeded it by getting 415 pairs.

And thus, Gunner’s Runner was born.

Gunner’s annual shoe collection isn’t the first time the boy has organized a large charitable act. In 2014, he collected 400 pounds of food for those in need on Thanksgiving.

And his parents couldn’t be prouder of their philanthropist.

“Words can’t even describe how proud we are of him,” Robinson told WWAY. “Because it was his idea, his doing.”