Red Sneaker Day Spotlight: Olivia Debbs

Red Sneaker Days provides a “day” when everyone wears their red sneakers/shoes (or anything red) and participates together to raise awareness for the dangers of food allergies. The goal is not only to increase education and awareness to the communities of those suffering with food allergies, but just as importantly, to educate those who are not directly affected by them.

Olivia Debbs is a senior at St. George’s School. She chose to host a Red Sneaker Day at her senior night soccer game in honor of her twin brother, Oakley. This Red Sneaker Day was particularly special for Olivia because she has honored her brother’s legacy by wearing his jersey number #20 all her years of playing soccer, and this game was dedicated to him. Oakley was a soccer superstar and always wore #20!

Olivia’s entire soccer team wore special uniforms. They wore red socks and custom red sweatshirts with the Red Sneakers for Oakley (RSFO) logo and their school emblem. The opposing team even joined St. George’s Academy in celebrating the Red Sneaker Day by wearing their RSFO shirts during warmups before the game. Olivia spoke before the game to share Oakley’s story and speak about RSFO’s mission of educating and advocating for food allergy awareness to save lives.

This Red Sneaker Day gave a spotlight to the importance of educating and advocating for food allergy awareness. Every player, coach and spectator at the game now knows Oakley’s story and knows why it is extremely important to educate themselves and others about the dangers of living with food allergies.