Sam’s Accessible Shoe Grant is a heartwarming Bar Mitzvah service project to fund 13 pairs of Zipped sneakers for kids with disabilities. As someone who grew up wearing braces and couldn't wear regular sneakers, Sam knows how important it is to feel included and have the same cool shoe options as everyone else. Every donation helps Sam reach his goal of funding 13 pairs of Zipped shoes.

LIVE UPDATES WILL GO HERE – Pairs funded: 22 AND COUNTING(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Hi! My name is Sam Wolf. I’m a 7th grader who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. I love soccer, shoes, and gaming. On April 18th, I'm going to have a Bar Mitzvah!

For those who don’t know, a Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for boys turning 13, marking their transition to

religious maturity and Jewish adulthood.

When you have a Bar Mitzvah, you do a Mitzvah Project, which is a meaningful community service initiative or charitable endeavor done by a Jewish Teenager leading up to their Bar Mitzvah.

I am a toe walker. It’s rough. Throughout my life, I have had to wear SMO and AFO braces and have had to cast both my feet multiple times. This meant I wasn’t able to wear cool sneakers. It sucked seeing all my friends wearing cool or trendy sneakers, but I had to wear XXL plain black sneakers. I didn’t enjoy that experience, and I bet others don’t either, so I want to change that for someone.

My parents learned about Zipped on the news, and right when I got home from school, they told me about it. I knew immediately that is what I wanted to do for my Mitzvah Project.

I chose Zipped for this project because it was something I connected with. It was super amazing to see what Zipped was doing for people with disabilities, and I wish I had this when I was younger.

I want to help other people have a different experience and be able to get the sneakers they like. I want to fund 13 pairs to celebrate 13 years, reflected by a Bar Mitzvah. Each pair costs $180. So that’s $2,340 for 13 pairs, but we would love to fund more.

On the page, we will be doing live updates, and I will be writing a handwritten note in every box that gets funded.

Thanks, everyone for your time. We really appreciate every donation in support of this cause!

If you’d like to support my project:

— Sam