One of the most lasting memories of our sister before she passed away over 20 years ago was her working a summer job at the age of 16 years old. At the end of the summer, she bought my brother, Sharif, and me our very first pair of Nike tennis shoes. Up until that point, we had never had a pair of "cool" shoes. We began this foundation after reflecting upon the empowering feeling of having a pair of shoes to wear proudly to school. We both believed the small act was life changing. We both developed increased enthusiasm for going to school, our confidence grew over night, and I swear it felt like my athleticism did too.

 

For Sharif, he was the person with the most gravitas in any room he stood in as a result of the sense of empowerment. Later on that school year, our sister was the victim of a senseless drive by shooting. But even in her short time on this earth, she impacted several people in our community. She taught us how to live and how to GIVE. In honor of her life, we began Dayna's Footprints. Each year in November, we will be raising money to buy as many underprivileged students a pair of "nice kicks". For many of these students, it will be their first pair and hopefully it will help inspire them as it did my brother and me. Sharif and I, with the help of many across the metroplex and country, will be participating in a Million Pound November Challenge.

 

The challenge will be to lift a million pounds in the 30 days of November in exchange for any monetary donation from people inspired by this cause. In December, we join forces with medical school students in Fort Worth to launch a One Million Steps Challenge. Stay tuned for more about that challenge!

 

 

-Sam Sayed, Co-Founder of DF