When Dr. Sam Sayed relocated to Rochester, Minnesota, for residency, he brought his nonprofit with him through the support of a Mayo Clinic Community Contributions grant. 

When Dr. Sam Sayed was in elementary school, his older sister, Dayna, took him and his brother to the shoe store where she worked. She offered to buy any sneakers they wanted. 

For two boys growing up in poverty, this was a pivotal moment.

"We were discount-store or hand-me-down kids — we had never gotten to do anything like that," says Dr. Sayed, an emergency medicine resident at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "We can still recall the shoes and how they made us feel. We want other kids to feel that too." 

Nearly 30 years later, Dr. Sayed helped give 56 Rochester Boys & Girls Club members that same gift. He applied for a Mayo Clinic Community Contributions grant through his nonprofit, Dayna's Footprints, funding an Aug. 13 event that let the kids pick their dream kicks at a local shoe store. 

"They were joyous — one kid said, 'This is the best day of my life,'" says Dr. Sayed. "One boy picked a pair based on his favorite soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo. As soon as he picked them up, he did the classic Ronaldo celebration — run to the corner and do a 360 — over and over."

Watch: Emergency medicine resident brings Mayo's mission to youth with new shoes

Journalists: Broadcast-quality b-roll and sound bites are in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name supers/CG: Sam Sayed, M.D./Emergency Medicine Resident/Mayo Clinic; Sammy Arab, M.B.B.S./Research Fellow/Mayo Clinic

Their excitement reflected the day's deeper meaning — both for the kids and the many Mayo volunteers who made the event possible. 

"I know what it's like to show up in worn-out shoes and pretend you don't notice the comments," says Dr. Sammy Arab, a postdoctoral research fellow at Mayo and the event lead for Dayna's Footprints in Rochester. "We’re not just handing out shoes. We're giving kids dignity. We're telling them they matter." 

A purpose-driven mission

For Dr. Sayed, this isn't simply a passion project — it's a way to honor his sister's legacy. 

Not long after Dayna bought him his Nike Slants, she was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting. 

"We lost her, but we didn't lose her spirit," Dr. Sayed says.  

In 2018, he and his brother, Sharif, raised money to provide shoes for a family at their former school, inspired by what Dayna had done for them. They ended up helping 53 kids.

This compelled them to start Dayna's Footprints. After Dr. Sayed joined Mayo, they expanded to Rochester — a full-circle moment, since Dayna was born in Minneapolis.

This has given him a special way to fulfill his mission as a physician. 

"I don't want to wait for a patient to show up in the Emergency Department on their worst day. I want to know the community I serve," says Dr. Sayed. "At Mayo Clinic, it's about treating the patient in every facet of life. Before they show up and after they leave, Mayo cares." 

His perspective exemplifies Mayo Clinic's commitment to patients — past, present and future. 

"Mayo Clinic is about looking ahead — and with these kids, we're trying to intervene early," says Dr. Sayed. "We're treating them before they ever come here. We're giving them the confidence to believe they can overcome the circumstances they were born into." 

Related Articles