PADUCAH—In honor of the 10th annual shopping spree organized by the George Wilson Safety Foundation and Paducah Public Schools, Academy Sports and Outdoors donated $10,000, allowing 50 Paducah Public Schools students to shop the store for their wants and needs. Typically, the retailer donates $5,000 toward the shopping spree. This year, it donated $10,000, which […]
PADUCAH—In honor of the 10th annual shopping spree organized by the George Wilson Safety Foundation and Paducah Public Schools, Academy Sports and Outdoors donated $10,000, allowing 50 Paducah Public Schools students to shop the store for their wants and needs.
Typically, the retailer donates $5,000 toward the shopping spree. This year, it donated $10,000, which gave each student a $200 gift card to use in the store on items such as clothing and sports equipment.
Academy’s increased donation allowed kids to shop for more items than they would have been able to last year. Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2024, in Paducah.
George Wilson, a former NFL player and President of the George Wilson Safety Foundation, will always make time for the annual event because he wants to pass on the support he’s received from the community to the next generation.
“You know, shoes, clothes, you know, anything to promote physical activity and so we’re just so excited to be able to share this blessing with our students and be able to give them something to smile about,” said Wilson.
Wilson said his organization hopes to promote physical health and appreciates all the support his organization and the kids get through the event.
Each student was given $200 on a store gift card to spend. Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2024, in Paducah.
Paducah Public School 6th grader Robert Tunnel was thankful for the support of those who’d helped him be able to participate.
“Thank you for letting us be here and letting us- giving us the 200 bucks and all that and thank you for letting us get all the stuff we wanted and needed,” said Robert.
His brother, Paducah Public School 7th grader Evan Tunnell, said it was nice to be able to not only get items they needed but also pick up items they wanted, such as a hoverboard and an air hockey game.
Robert (left) and Evan (right) Tunnell spoke about their appreciativeness for the shopping spree and those who organized it. Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2024, in Paducah.
“Because usually we don’t get what we want… If I’m speaking for all the kids in the world, like, we wanna get stuff that we really want, but they’re usually overpriced … or we rarely get to do stuff like this that lets us get stuff we wanted,” said Evan.
Wilson said the retailer’s increased donation made a big difference in the shopping trip as a whole.
“Last year, you know, and years past, they have to choose between ‘do I get shoes, or do I get, you know, a- a jogging suit- a top and bottom. But, this year, they can get both and probably still have money left over,” said Wilson.
George Wilson is a former NFL player and the President of the George Wilson Safety Foundation. Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2024, in Paducah.
Store Director Justin Albert said seeing the kids shopping and smiling was fantastic.
“I think it’s important to tie back to the community, you know. Our company message is ‘have fun,’ you know, continue to have fun out there to- to drive, you know, kids’ engagement on sports and just want to kind of bring some unity some holiday cheer to our community,” said Albert. Wilson hopes to grow the event in the future.
“The more support we have, the more lives we’ll be able to touch and- and when we when we come together in a collaborative effort, you know, everybody wins,” said Wilson.
