Nicholas Lowinger
In 2010, Nicholas started the Gotta Have Sole Foundation so that he could give new shoes to children living in homeless shelters across the country. , Nicholas started the Gotta Have Sole Foundation as a community services project. He didn’t want it to be one donation and have it stop there. He wanted it to continue and be something that he could do for the rest of his life. Nicholas researched that there were 1.6 million homeless children across the United States in 2010. He felt that homeless children shouldn’t have to worry about fitting in; they shouldn’t have less opportunities, like not being able to play in sports or go to school because they don’t have a pair of shoes.To date, Nicholas’s organization has donated over 10,000 pairs of new shoes in over 26 states. He has heard countless, emotional stories of how his efforts have made such a difference in the lives of so many. Nicholas runs this business out of his family’s garage. It is full of new shoes donated from shoe companies and shoe stores. Nicholas takes orders for shoes from all over the country. If he doesn’t have the right shoe and/or size, he uses the donations his organization receives to buy them. The shoes are then shipped out to whoever needs them and whenever he can, Nicholas delivers them in person.As a way to honor his grandfather who is a WWII veteran, he started SOLEdiers to assist disabled and needy veterans and their families. That program provides veterans with gift cards to footwear stores so that veterans can purchase the shoes they need and choose shoes from the Gotta Have Sole Foundation inventory for their children. Nicholas has started yet another program through his foundation called “Serving Love.” This program provides disadvantaged children with the right sporting footwear so they can take part in the sport of their choice. He is also working with organizations who will give free tennis lessons and hopes to expand that to include other sports.
