{"id":1058560,"date":"2022-04-29T12:32:54","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T17:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=1058560"},"modified":"2022-04-29T12:33:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T17:33:03","slug":"hav-a-sole-gives-the-gift-of-sneakers-to-those-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/hav-a-sole-gives-the-gift-of-sneakers-to-those-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Hav A Sole Gives the Gift of Sneakers to Those in Need"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At only 9-years-old, Rikki Mendias<\/strong> faced one of the most challenging moments of his life as he dealt with the hardship of homelessness. Eventually Rikki and his mom ended up in a shelter where his life would change forever. A woman who formerly lived at the shelter noticed that Rikki had holes in his shoes and decided to give Rikki two new pairs of Vans \u2013 it was that moment that Rikki knew that shoes needed to be a part of his life forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up around Los Angeles, Rikki became more aware of sneaker culture as he got older. Those early years of living in shelters and going without caused Rikki to develop an intense focus on growing his collection. Once Rikki could afford to buy sneakers, he wanted to get every colorway and silhouette imaginable. By the time Rikki turned 30, he had more sneakers than he could count, but for some reason, he didn\u2019t feel satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rikki always loved the confidence that kicks gave him, a feeling he first experienced that fateful day when he was given those Vans. As he thought about that day more and more, Rikki realized that it wasn\u2019t just about the sneakers or the confidence that resonated with him after all these years \u2013 it was the selflessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there Rikki knew what he had to do. He loaded up his sneaker collection and began driving around the streets of LA looking for people in need of shoes. He started sharing his journey on social media and telling the stories of the people that he met on the street. One thing led to another and Hav A Sole<\/strong> was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2014, Hav A Sole has provided at-risk youth and homeless people with quality footwear to encourage happiness, confidence, and health. Hav A Sole has developed its own community, traveling across the country to give sneakers to people from city-to-city. As Hav A Sole approaches their 8th Anniversary in 2022, the organization has given away 37,000 pairs of sneakers, but for Rikki \u2013 this is just the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Hav A Sole<\/a> <\/strong>as founder Rikki Mendias<\/strong> talks to us about expanding the organization to other cities, their new paid internship opportunity, the aftermath of COVID, debunking the sneakerhead stereotype, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rikki Mendias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Snkrs Day: A lot has changed since you first started Hav A Sole. How does it feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rikki Mendias: \u201cYeah, it’s been a long journey. We’ve been able to do so much and made an appearance on the Ellen show. We also did something on The Home Edit with Harry Ratchford and Kevin Hart. It\u2019s super crazy. We\u2019ve been giving out more shoes and really tapping into the sneaker community. It’s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have opportunities like The Ellen Show and The Home Edit impacted Hav A Sole?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s added a lot of awareness. People that have watched either of those shows have been really kind to us; A lot of funding coming in and a lot of new friends on social media. It\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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