This Nonprofit Donates Sneakers to Homeless and At-Risk Youth

Rikki Mendias has always been obsessed with sneakers, and he's spent years cultivating a collection of his favorite shoes. But in 2014, he began to look at his kicks differently: He had more than 150 pairs to his name, but realized that there were people in his community who didn’t have any. So he decided to pack his shoes into the back of his car, drive around Los Angeles, and donate them to people in need. The impromptu act of charity inspired him to start Hav A Sole—a nonprofit that’s given more than 12,000 pairs of new and gently-used sneakers to homeless individuals and at-risk youth across the country.

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