Caring Students Buy Special Needs Classmate Proper-Fitting Shoes
It's better to give than receive.
Students at San Antonio's Somerset High School chipped in to get special needs classmate J.R. Gilbert a Christmas gift he can really use.
J.R., who battles hydrocephaly and ADHD, told classmate Salvador Solis that his shoes don't fit him. Solis immediately took action. "It bothered me that one of my friends didn't have the appropriate things he needed so he could be comfortable," he said. "I wanted to do something."
And so he did, rallying the students body to buy J.R. not one, but two pair of Nikes. They raised about $180 and gave him the sneakers last week, before school let out for the holiday vacation. The video quickly went viral.
J.R.'s mother was certainly touched by the student body getting into the spirit of the season.
"I didn't find out until late last night," Gilbert's mother, Linda, said Saturday. "It was just the sweetest thing," she said. "This is one of those instances where he was able to see that he has a lot of friends."