All proceeds will go towards Compass Family Services, a homeless shelter in San Francisco. These proceeds will help compensate for the state budget cuts, which would provide shelter for more children whose parents are economically poor but all have jobs. Help us combat homeless in San Francisco!
In the two weeks of our pop-up charity store in Los Altos, Ca, we have raised a total $25,220.37, all 100% proceeds directed to building our medical clinic in Les Cayes, Haiti.
YAP wants to thank all those who volunteered, spread the word, and bought shoes from our event.
Started: 6/9/12
Ends: 6/24/12
Goal: Raise $25,000 to build a Childrens' Hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti that will serve over 1 million people
Over 2,000 pairs of shoes and clothing were donated from: Converse, Puma, adidas, Saucony, Asics, and from Adrian Wilson (Safety for the Arizona Cardinals) who donated an additional 1,000 pairs of Nike, Supra, Creative Recreation, and Gourmet.
In a total of 7 days, we have raised $15,550.15 to reach our goal of $25,000
We need your help and support to spread the word and reach out to more people towards our cause to build the medical clinic. To better understand the health conditions these kids and infants are treated, please watch an unedited video below I took from the childrens' hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti while I worked in Haiti in June 2011.
Note: The footage of the video is not at the best angle because I was not allowed to film inside the hospital, and therefore had to take the footage in a way that was not conspicuous.
Anyone in need of a great pair of shoes? How about an *awesome* pair of shoes for charity?
Youth Against Poverty is opening a “Pop-Up” store – a short-term clearance sale – starting THIS SATURDAY in Los Altos. We’re selling hundreds of new, top-quality shoes to fund a children’s medical clinic in Les Cayes, Haiti.
Although one of our closest neighbors, Haiti has one of the worst health care systems in the world and millions of the country’s citizens are suffering from cholera, malaria and Dengue Fever. The children’s clinic in Les Cayes will serve a community of over a million people and will contribute significantly to the prevention and treatment of illnesses for the youth of the region.
Do you think you can help? If so, please join me. Our last Pop-Up raised over $25,000, and with the support of the Silicon Valley community, we’re hoping to raise even more towards our goal of $70,000.
If you can’t make it, please spread the word. It is rare to find great deals on great shoes, and even more rare to be able to shop for charity.
We hope to see you there!
As of 4/14/12, we have sold 171 pairs of shoes generously donated by Keds. So far we raised $3,296.20, having all the proceeds go to Compass Family Services. Compass is an afterschool program for preschool kids of homeless working families. Each week, families are denied sending their kids to the shelter due to severe state budget cuts. The money that we raised will help Compass to take on more families and care for more deserving kids.
We have one more week to go to the end of our fundraising drive. Join us to raise money so we can give these kids a chance for them to have brighter futures and better lives, regardless of their economic background.
Cupertino teen helps put shoes on the feet of poor children in Africa
A few polite inquiries from Cupertino resident Shawn Esmaili put shoes on the feet of poor children in Tanzania.
Esmaili, 18, a junior at Saint Francis High School, was recently honored by K2 Adventures Foundation for his work in donating hundreds of shoes to poor children in the African nation. He received the foundation's first junior humanitarian award in 22 years.
Esmaili worked with K2 to get shoes sent to an orphanage in Tanzania that cares for roughly 600 children struggling with blindness. He said he was surprised to learn that the soil competition causes children to suffer from foot fungus, which cause their feet and even stomachs to swell.
"They said they needed shoes really badly. This is the only thing they wanted," he said. "I had no idea just how much these shoes would impact their lives."
Esmaili contacted major shoe companies such as Reebok, Puma, Converse, Adidas and Vans. Over a period of three months last year, he secured more than 700 pairs of shoes.
Esmaili said he was surprised that a few inquiries to the shoe companies would result in such positive feedback.
"I never would have expected to get so much support from these organizations. That was the really surprising part," he said. "I have them to thank for all of this. If it wasn't for their generosity, it would not have happened."
Esmaili's philanthropic ways began when he was 12 years old and traveling in Iran. He visited an orphanage for gifted and talented middle school-age children and heard their life stories. He said he was inspired to help poor children immediately after chatting with some of the orphans.
"I realized how fortunate I was, how much I had and how much they did not have," he said. "These kids were very bright; they were first or second in their class. This is when I found that this is what I want to do. This is the day I changed my life."
Last summer, Esmaili was in Haiti with Global Family Philanthropy, and it was there that he made connections with K2. The 10-day trip was an eye-opener for him, and he has since been continuing aid efforts for the earthquake-ravaged nation.
Esmaili was honored in Scottsdale, Ariz., late last year at K2's headquarters. The shoe donations even inspired him and K2 to sell the shoes at discount prices at makeshift "pop-up" stores in Scottsdale earlier this month.
The money from the stores is going toward medical equipment in Haiti. To date, the effort has raised $12,000, with a goal of reaching $25,000.
Esmaili has his own nonprofit, Youth Against Poverty, which works to connect his fellow teenagers with groups that work to help poor and impoverished children around the world. The organization is working to get official nonprofit status.
So far as of Jan 29, we have raised:
YAP Successes in Tanzania and San Francisco
Great News!!
Youth Against Poverty is finally in the process of being a non-profit organization. That way we can raise even more funds and help even more people that are currently in desperate need.
We have just shipped 300 pairs of Vans shoes plus another 60 pairs of Converse shoes to the orphanage in Tanzania, bringing us very close to our 600 pair quota. This also includes the 200 pairs of shoes we sent last week. The orphanage has 600 kids, all of them blind and never having worn shoes before. This is a donation of at least $18,000 in cost with an approximate retail value of $33,000.
By doing this, we can change the lives of these orphans by preventing the spread of foot fungus, which is their biggest problem for them.
Youth Against Poverty has just donated 200 pairs of Converse shoes to an orphanage for the blind in Tanzania. The orphanage was founded by the K2 Foundation and the orphans have never owned a pair of shoes. Also, many of the orphans are currently suffering from foot fungus, mainly because of the composition of the dirt and soil that causes the foot to swell. By wearing shoes, it will prevent the kids from having foot fungus and will forever change their lives. We just take for granted how important shoes are to us. Once you hear about how badly kids need shoes, you start to appreciate the shoes you wear everyday wherever you go.
We want to thank Converse for their generous offer giving shoes to the orphans in Haiti.
We want to thank adidas for their generous offer giving shoes to the orphans in Haiti
YAP is donating shoes to the Mwereni Integrated School for the Blind in Tanzania on behalf of the K2 Adventures Foundation. The school consists of 600 students, an equal number of boys and girls, from the ages of 5-18. What the students need most are close toed shoes because their biggest issue they are dealing with right now is foot fungus. There are cases of 9 year old boys needing size 13 shoes due to the foot fungus. So far, YAP was able to donate 115 pairs of shoes alone, but we still need more shoes to donate. If any of you have any shoes that you are willing to donate, please contact me at shawnesmaili@gmail.com. Your help can prevent this fungus and make lives better for the already blind students in Tanzania.
YAP is having an art fundraiser where we are going to sell art, photography, and paintings, which will help us raise 75K to build a medical clinic in Haiti.
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011 from 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: San Francisco Suites on Nob Hill, 710 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA
Below are samples of customized TOMS shoes by Kris Mestizo that we are going to sell in the event.
Please visit and join our Facebook page for more details. Your help means everything to the crisis and spread of disease that is going on in Haiti. By building a medical clinic, we can stop the spread of diseases, such as cholera and malaria.
Building A Clinic in HAITI
Since I returned from Haiti, I have written to friends, relatives, those who are involved in humanitarian projects to finds ways to help kids living in orphanages, in poverty, or live without proper care. I have been overwhelmed by how generously individual and companies have stepped forward to donate, and to guide me through.
I am asking you to do the same, and get involved. GET INVOLVED TODAY.
We need to build a medical clinic in Haiti, land and medical equipment has already been donated.
To build this clinic in Haiti, we must raise $75,000. This clinic will provide basic-urgent medical care to the kids who are living in the orphanages, will assist those who live in nearby villages who have no basic health care of any kind, and will prevent spread of diseases and death by Malaria and Cholera.
FOR EVERY DONATION OF ANY DENOMINATION, WE WILL DONATE A PAIR OF SHOES.
YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE A GIFT OR A GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR YOUR GENEROSITY.
Global Family Philanthropy is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a stable home for the abandoned and orphaned children in Haiti. My memorable trip to Haiti was through this organization, and I can assure you that it will be life-changing once you go there. If you are thinking or want to get involved to make a difference to these orphans in Haiti, click here. I never realized until I went there how impoverished that country is. Everyday, there are mothers in Haiti who want to give up their child or children because they cannot afford to take care of them. Some of the orphans in the orphanage were found walking in the streets naked, orphaned at birth, or given up by their mothers and still remember but don't know why she gave them up.
It's not too late to make a difference.
Hey All,
I just posted pictures of our trip in Haiti in our Photo Blog, which is on the left side bar.
