Shoes for the kids

Growing up I experienced many different living conditions. From the typical family house hold, to living in in what I thought was a castle being waited on hand and foot (thanks grandma), to waking up in kindergarten knowing that my only stable meal was going to be the cereal and milk my school provided.

But through it all, I always knew that somewhere someone was looking out for me, and at the end of the day I'd be taken care of.

After 25 years of having multiple guardian angels looking after me, last year I decided it was time to start giving back. I reached out to my old high school, Brookswood Secondary, and asked my old coach to pick one player on his team that was hardworking, dedicated, and just loved the game of basketball. But didn't necessarily have access to the funds to buy a new pair of shoes.

He chose a kid, we bought him a pair of shoes, and from what I have been told that small act meant the world to him. 

This all started with a goal to raise $500 for 5 pairs of shoes for kids who were unable to have the proper basketball shoes needed to play the sport they love.

Now, we have officially passed $5000,  and I am sure there are many of you thinking that’s a lot of shoes, how are you going to find kids to give them to?

This is why we are choosing to change up what different areas we can give back to the kids to help change lives.

1.     First off it is still shoes for the kids. So Sport Chek and their charity Jumpstart are working to help source out kids who can’t afford proper footwear so they are able to safely play the sport the love. 

2.     We have also spoke with Brookswood Secondary, and we are going to create a scholarship within the school. One where grade 12s can apply for, or can be nominated by friends, family, or teachers. This will be a scholarship that we have complete control over how we decide the recipient. The winner will be the student who best exemplifies loyalty, dedication, and perseverance.

3.     We have teamed up with the my uncle and aunty, Tony and Sage Robbins, to send a student to Tony’s Global Leadership Youth Summit, which was instrumental in the development to me as a person. This will give the skills necessary for them to be a leader in their community. Shoes for the kids will sponsor the flight for this event, and Tony and Sage will pay for the event itself.  

4.     I attended Douglas Park Elementary when I was growing up. And during that time I was apart of the breakfast program for kids that were in a similar situation as I. Where the milk and cereal for a lot of us was the only stable meal we were going to have all day. We are going to work with them to keep that program going, and hopefully grow it as well.

5.     We are also going to offer a sponsorship program for the Senior Boys Basketball team. We have teamed up with Big Kahuna in south surrey, and they have offered to help us out in our cause.  The sponsorship will be based on each athlete meeting certain goals in regards to volunteer hours and giving back to the community. Teaching the athletes the power of giving back and paying it forward.

If this is something you would like to help with in any way, we would be honored.

We have also starting in creating an actual charity, where this can become more then just a gofundme, but we can make this legitamate.