SNEAKER DONATION, by Nathan Weiser

Heeling Soles recently partnered with PS 15 and made a much appreciated donation of brand new sneakers to 23 students. The recipients are part of an after school program called Boys Run Sports and Fashion Club, which was started by phys-ed teacher Joshua Fox.
“I wanted to do more than just running, we did running and sports,” Fox said. “Our theme so far this year has been kindness, compassion and empathy. I want to build up character and get my students to see the world through a different lens.”
He tries to instill in them that letting someone else win can make you the real winner.
Fox has always been into sneakers and has collected them since he was a kid. He was going sneaker shopping with his wife and daughter four years ago and walked into Susan Boyle’s store called RIME at Atlantic and Smith Street. He saw a going out of business sign and wanted to know what was done with the unsold sneakers.
Boyle first thought he wanted discounted sneakers but then Fox told her who he was. “I said I am a teacher in a title one school in a low income community and have a lot of families in need,” Fox said. “A lot of my kids will come to school and walk funny because their shoes are too small. Or they do not feel comfortable running because their shoe has a hole.”
Boyle decided that she wanted to make an impact.
She donated 150 pairs of unsold Northface sneakers. They put up two folding chairs in the yard with the shoes in size order, and then in 15 minutes the entire school community had the opportunity to look for their size and get a brand new shoe.
Boyle’s mother was a teacher for 30 years and she loves giving back to children. She started a fashion line with someone who won Project Runway a few years ago and they donated all of the proceeds from a new line within that fashion line to the PS 15 PTA.
Fox spoke about Boyle. “She has been in the sneaker industry for 20 plus years. We went back and forth a couple of times and then she connected me with Heeling Soles.”
When each of the kids initially saw their sneakers from Heeling Soles, they were happy.
“You would think they were in the best party they have ever had,” Fox said. “They were screaming in excitement, jumping up and down. They were appreciative and nobody was jealous over somebody else’s pair. Everybody appreciated what they got and were happy with what they got, which was beautiful.”
The shoes were delivered March 31. Initially, the idea was to take the finish off of the sneakers, then customize it with actual leather and sneaker paint and apply the finish back to protect the paint.
However, that process of customizing it to make it factory standard would be a long one and would involve chemicals that the kids could not touch. This option was scrapped since it would have taken up too much of the one hour and 15 minutes twice a week that the group meets.
Fox also did not want the original sneakers to be ruined since they kids already loved the sneakers as they were delivered. The kids would have had to wait for him to finish applying chemicals, so a speedier customization process was chosen.
“We came up with the idea where we are going to customize the laces,” Fox said. “We are going to customize our laces so they can make the shoe their own.”
For the next tie-dye event, Fox bought the kids shirts so the kids will be able to have that to tie-dye and the plan is to get another piece of clothing for them to tie-dye so they can have that to give to a parent for Mother’s or Father’s Day.
“The deal I made with them was these are your shoes, your name is on the bag,” Fox told the students. “I am going to hold them until we do the customizing day and after we do our customizing, they are yours.”
“This is something that these kids will remember the rest of their lives. Some of these kids have never had anything like that happen.”
This PS 15 teacher has taught the kids to show gratitude and give back. His students are working on a thank you initiative so they can repay Heeling Soles for what they have been given.
“This is so we can pay it forward and other people in need can receive the joy that my kids got,” Fox said.