Cranston Teen Wins $36,000 for Social Action Service–Nat’l Award
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Fifteen-year-old Cranston resident, Nicholas Lowinger, has got soul. Lowinger was today announced as a recipient of the 2013 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, which recognizes teens for their commitment to social action and volunteer service.
Lowinger was selected for his establishment of the Gotta Have Sole Foundation, a nonprofit that provides brand new footwear to children in homeless shelters. Founded in 2010 as part of Lowinger’s bar mitzvah project, his business has since donated shoes to over 9000 underprivileged children in 15 states.
Lowinger’s interest in this particular project emerged from a visit to a homeless shelter at age five, where he was surprised to discover many children had flimsy, poorly fitting shoes, if they had shoes at all. “Some had to share footwear with a family member and missed school because it wasn’t their turn to wear shoes that day,” Lowinger explains on the nonprofit’s website. “It has always been my hope that the children will feel more confident about themselves because they have new shoes to call their own and that they will have the same opportunities afforded to them as their peers,” he wrote.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSince its establishment, Gotta Have Sole has partnered with numerous footwear manufacturers, coordinated shoe drives, and organized fundraisers to help provide homeless youth with their own, new footwear. The business has grown to include over 1000 volunteers.
By the end of the year, Lowinger aims to have expanded the reach of his nonprofit to incorporate 10 additional U.S. states. He also recently launched two new projects: Serving Love, a project to give children active footwear to participate in sports, and SOLEdiers, an initiative to provide veterans with a dignified way to purchased shoes.
Now in its seventh year, this is the first time the $36,000 award has recognized participants outside of California. To date, the award has donated nearly $1.5 million to 40 Jewish teens tackling global issues across America. Tikkun Olam is a central precept of Judaism meaning “to repair the world.”
To see more of Gotta Have Sole, visit http://www.gottahavesole.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/
To make a new shoe or sneaker donation (and they are always in need of boys and girls shoes in all kids and adult sizes), please contact Nicholas at [email protected] so he can make arrangements with you for delivery or pick up.
Know a fantastic teen who's doing great work? Nominate them for a Tikkun Olam award. Read more, right here.
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