Carrie Jernigan turned a regular visit to a Payless store in Alma, Arkansas into a good deed, after buying the store’s entire inventory to help others.
According to NBC News, the mother of three took her fourth-grade daughter, Harper, to the closing shoe store to buy her a new pair of shoes when Harper noticed a pair of Avengers sneakers she thought her classmate would like and asked her mom if she’d buy them. After listening to her daughter explain that her friend, an Avengers fan, needed these shoes because he had outgrown his current ones, Jernigan felt inspired to do more.
She asked the store clerk how much it would cost to buy out the entire store. The clerk asked Jernigan to leave her number, and later that day, she received a call from the Payless district manager who approved the mass sale, since the store was already in liquidation due to bankruptcy.
Instead of purchasing what she thought was going to be 200 to 300 pairs, Jernigan ended up buying almost 1,500 shoes, thanks to a new a shipment the store had just received.
The family is now working together with churches and local businesses on an August back-to-school event to distribute the shoes, where free haircuts, eye exams and school supplies will also be offered.
“That’s what it’s all about,” she told the NBC affiliate in Fayetteville, Arkansas. “If it makes you do one little thing for that student fixing to go back to school, then it matters to that one kid.”
