9-Year-Old Has Started an Initiative Collecting Shoes

Photo Cred: Zita Gouveia | Supplied

A 9-year-old from Johannesburg has started an incredible initiative to help put shoes on every single South African who needs them!

Johannesburg, South Africa (01 February 2017) – In just 3 months, 9-year-old Dario Gouveia has already collected almost 6,000 pairs of shoes to distribute to those in need.

The initiative started when Dario’s mom (Zita Gouveia) had a ‘little bit of a cadenza’ due to his Green Cross School shoes she had purchased in October being too small in January, just 3 months later!

That morning, while driving with his mom, Dario stopped at an intersection and noticed that the little boy, standing with his mother begging, was barefoot.

“One day we stopped at a Robot, I looked out of the window and saw a little boy, a little younger than me sitting on the hot tar while his mother begged for money.”

“What worried me was that he was kicking stones and I noticed that his feet were worn and cut.”

This made me think… how many children out there need shoes.

“Mom when i get home I want to see how many pairs of shoes don’t fit me and we can give it to that little boy.”

Needless to say, Dario fished out 14 pairs amongst himself and his sister. After much thought and talking about Dario’s shoe idea, his mom asked him to put a letter together to see how many shoes they could actually collect.

Read the full letter below:

Dario Gouveia Sole2Sole 3 — Photo Cred: Zita Gouveia | Supplied

Sole2Sole was launched in February 2017, and Dario has already collected 5,720 pairs of shoes.

“Gauteng has been exceptionally generous with their donations of shoes. This weekend we are visiting various homes to drop off shoes to those in need. Any form of social media goes a long way and thats what we are relying on to get word out.”

Should you have any questions, feel free to follow their Facebook Page or contact Zita Gouveia on 0795019517.

Since GoodThingsGuy posted the original story, Dario has touched the lives of many children! Dario has also inspired a young lady in New Zealand to take up the cause, she too has become a hero to the people she helps.