Operation Sole Skate is proud to announce we are are wrapping up our first project.
It all began with the discovery of an Instagram account called WeSkate Mongu. The account chronicled a group of skaters from Mongu, Zambia led by a local skater named Johnny who was helping keep kids out of trouble by teaching them to skate.
We began watching these kids learn how to skateboard with spare pieces of wood and parts, suitcase wheels and parts from roller skates. It was both inspiring and heartbreaking. When Aaron Kyro, of Braille Skateboarding donated some complete decks to these kids, it was amazing watching what they could do with some actual gear. You can check out Aaron’s recounting of the story here. However, the kids in Johnny’s camp were still skating barefoot or with old or worn-out footwear – definitely not ideal for skating.
We decided we could help by trying to help buy some shoes so that they didn’t have to skate barefoot anymore. We knew we could find the money to buy some shoes, and had the means to handle the logistics. Justin, one of our co-founders is an Area Sales Manager with DHL and gets heavily discounted international shipping. We quickly stood up a GoFundMe and within a week we raised over $1,000. We raised the goal to challenge ourselves have amassed just nearly $3,000 for the cause. We have been in touch with Johnny, who leads the skate project and he is grateful and supportive of what we’re trying to do. We watched donations pour in and began networking with other like-minded groups and individuals who were interesting in helping.
We had been working with some contacts of ours who had connections with other skateboard-related charities, skate companies, various pros, and local skate shops. They had been trying to help us buy shoes at cost or at wholesale pricing, but unfortunately nothing solid panned out. We were anxious to move quickly in order to keep the momentum going.
Since the process to find a sourcing partner has taken longer than expected, we ended up purchasing the shoes from a local Rack Room Shoes, in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Shout out to Clemente, the manager of store for helping us with our order!
We ended purchasing 80 pairs of shoes, 208 bearings and 96 pairs of socks to donate to WeSkate Mongu. In addition, another 100 pairs of shoes were donated by Shred.Co, a New-Jersey based organization that aims to improve mental, physical, and social well being on a local and global scale through skateboarding. Additional thanks to Unity Skate Camp, for donating additional boxes of lightly-used skate shoes.
Now that we had the items to donate, it was time to figure out the logistical challenge of getting the shipment to Johnny and team in Zambia, safely. Luckily, DHL came to the rescue and agreed to help us get the donation overseas. We have been working the DHL Express US and Africa teams to ensure a smooth delivery and to help get everything through customs and into the hands of the WeSkate Mongu.
On Wednesday, September 2, 2020 we went down to DHL’s distribution facility in Miami to box up the items for donation. We plan to get the boxes on a plan to Zambia this week and will keep this site updated with the progress.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in helping – please contact us. We’re looking for suppliers who can help us secure product for future projects and keep our momentum going.
Update
October 10, 2020
At long last, the skate shoes, socks, bearings and other goodies have arrived in Zambia and are safely in the hands of Johnny and WeSkate Mongu. Check out some pics Johnny sent us. More updates coming soon as the gear gets distributed to the kids.
