Soles 2 Souls: Arizona teen creates organization collecting shoes for those in need

Community Cares: Arizona high school student collects shoes for those in need

PHOENIX - An Arizona high school student took action after seeing a man on the side of the road with tattered shoes, and now his actions have transformed into a nonprofit that helps hundreds.

In the past year, 17-year-old Jake Krotonsky and his friend Alex have purchased about 120 pairs of shoes.

"One day I was driving home from school, and we saw a man on the side of the street with completely worn down shoes - basically he wasn't even wearing shoes, and we decided we needed to do something about it," Krotonsky said. "It wasn't acceptable for people to be walking around with nothing on their feet, and so we decided to start this organization."

Soles 2 Souls now focuses on getting shoes on the feet of Phoenix-area kids in foster care and for others that are less fortunate.

"We are mainly reaching out to different organizations around the Valley so Saving Amy, Arizona Helping Hands are the two that we work with," the teen said.

The teens hold fundraisers, garage sales, special events at school, and whatever it takes to make a difference. So far, they have raised more than $8,000.

"Originally we never thought we would get to this scale of being able to do all these different events for kids and being able to raise this much money, but through the help of our school and also through different partners around the Valley, we've really been able to flourish as a charity," he said.

Jake says it's the kids who flourish the most.

"They're usually pretty quiet, but usually by their face, you can tell by their eyes they are smiling, excited to try them on, they'll run around in them," he said.

Learn more: https://soles2souls.shop/