In recognition of frontline healthcare workers combating COVID-19 around the world, Nike will partner with nonprofit Good360 in the U.S. and local organizations across Europe to donate more than 140,000 pieces of footwear, apparel and equipment globally.

Nike brought out a number of its sponsored athletes, including Joshua Buatsi, Cristina Chirichella, Amandine Henry, Sabrina Ionescu, Anni Espar Llaquet, Ja Morant, Joc Pederson, Casey Short and Nafi Thiam, to send messages thanking healthcare workers.

These athletes joined with Nike to help announce the donation of 30,000 pairs of Nike Air Zoom Pulse to health systems and hospitals in Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis and New York City, and within the Veterans Health Administration. An additional 2,500 pairs are being donated to hospitals across Europe, including Barcelona, Berlin, London, Milan, Paris and in Belgium.

Unveiled in November 2019, the Nike Air Zoom Pulse is the first Nike shoe designed for health care professionals.

Donations of the Air Zoom Pulse in the U.S. will be administered by nonprofit Good360, a longtime Nike partner specializing in the efficient distribution of product donations. This partnership ensures delivery of the footwear to health systems and hospitals when they are ready to receive and deliver them to their staff. Approximately 95,000 pairs of soccer socks offering mild compression will also be delivered through Good360 for healthcare workers in Los Angeles and New York City.

Nike has donated 1,100 Nike Sportswear kits — which include a drawstring bag, water bottle, hat or headband, and socks — to healthcare workers in New York City. Across Europe, Nike has donated nearly 4,000 pairs of shoes and more than 3,500 pieces of sweat-wicking Dri-FIT apparel to more than a dozen hospitals and shelters.

Nike said in its statement, “Our Nike family has come together to serve our communities and support our COVID-19 response efforts in communities around the world. Nike’s leaders, employees, the Nike Foundation and Nike have committed more than $25 million to these efforts, including $2 million in employee donations, supercharged by a two-to-one match since mid-March to support community organizations in need. Teams across Nike also came together to create and donate full-face shields and powered, air-purifying respirator (PAPR) lenses to help protect healthcare workers against the coronavirus.”

The statement also noted that Converse, a brand owned by Nike and based in Boston, donated some 2,600 pairs of shoes have been donated in the Boston area, with a portion going to ensure that hospital environmental services and food service workers have comfortable, clean footwear as they travel to and from work. The donations have been collected by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Medical Center’s Boston and Hudson, Massachusetts locations.

Photo courtesy Nike