A UF student organization is sending hope to African children this holiday season in the form of sneakers.
Sole Mentality, the first student organization at UF for sneaker collectors, plans to collect 5,000 pairs of shoes for children who aspire to play basketball but don't have the shoes, said Ryan Raymond, president of the organization.
The 5,000 pairs will be shipped in increments of 500, he said. Sole Mentality is collecting shoes at tables on the Reitz Union Colonnade.
One hundred pairs have already been donated, Raymond said.
Hoops 4 Hope, a global nonprofit organization, is helping the organization carry out its plan. Since 1995, Hoops 4 Hope has provided more than 10,000 school-age African children with shoes through its basketball and life skills program.
"We've done some sneaker drives in the past, but we wanted to take this one to a new level," said Kiwani Tapper, secretary of Sole Mentality.
