Holiday Apartments Kids Get New Shoes – Mississippi’s Best Community Newspaper

NATCHEZ — Devin Therefore and his best friend Desmond McGuire grew up in the Holiday Apartments and know the people who live there.

That’s why he also said that many families struggle and their children rarely get nice things like new shoes. Many run around barefoot.

“I come from Holiday Apartments. I understand hard times,” Therefore said. “There are a lot of people from Holiday Apartments who are not as fortunate.”

So he and his friend decided to do something about it.

Therefore’s mother and another friend, Stephen Jefferson of Durham School Services, helped him borrow a bus to take 27 neighborhood children to the mall on Thursday, July 25.

All the children tried on and received a new pair of shoes for school. There was no fundraising involved. The costs were paid by him, Therefore said.

“Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces — their happiness — it’s priceless. That’s why we do this and keep doing this, just to see kids happy. No one did that when we were younger,” he said.

That’s why he said he moved to Baton Rouge and went to work right out of high school, and now has a career as a riverboat captain.

But he returns to Natchez for the holidays and seizes the opportunity to help the neighborhood where he grew up.

“I do Christmas gifts and have been doing it since 2020. This year we decided to do school shoes,” he said. “My best friend Desmond McGuire and I started it — him and I. We go to Walmart in Vidalia or Baton Rouge or wherever we are and pick up gifts to give away at the apartments. We get a flyer made and set the date.”

This year, he managed to reach families through social media and word of mouth and get the kids into the mall.

Although this was their first time shopping for shoes, Therefore said they still plan to hold a toy drive this Christmas.