Written By: Lynn Engle, Vice President of Max’s Kicks for Kids
Max’s Kicks for Kids’ mission is to support struggling families, and to build kids’ confidence with a pair of new, brand name sneakers they can be proud to wear. We founded MK4K in honor of our son, Max, who died in 2018. As a Chester County Probation Officer, he helped many people rebuild their lives. Max was also a sneaker fanatic. A new pair made him feel confident, proud, and ready to take on the world. We believe that every kid deserves that feeling, regardless of what might be going on at home.
To a family struggling to keep a roof over their heads or food on their table, a new pair of sneakers is a low priority. But a new pair of sneakers, like those their peers are wearing, can change the world for a kid. It can make a big difference in their mental health. We all remember middle school, and the things we cared about then: having friends, belonging, fitting in, not being bullied or made fun of. These things become even more important if your family is struggling with issues like housing insecurity or serious illness. You can’t try out for a team, or participate in PE, or run around after school with friends, without a properly fitting pair of shoes. And the importance of having “cool” Adidas or Nike sneakers like your peers, can’t be overstated. It is a huge boost to pride and confidence, as well as physical activity.
Our goal at the start of the Seed-And-Scale Match Fund was to increase the number of Coatesville kids who received sneakers. In 2023, we donated 100 pairs of sneakers to kids whose families were being served by CYWA. With the Seed-And-Scale Funding, we were able to triple that! We were even able to get new shoes for some of the moms in CYWA’s programs.
We are so grateful that the match portion of the Seed-And-Scale Match Fund will allow us to duplicate these numbers in 2025. The Alliance for Health Equity has already matched almost $8000 in donations to MK4K, and they have committed to matching another $2000. This is a great way to double your impact; with the match from AHE, every donation will buy twice as many shoes!
Through AHE, we have started a collaboration with Coatesville Youth Initiative, and will be providing new sneakers to the graduates of their ServiceCorps program. And we are thrilled that we’ll be able to take these 40 young people shopping to pick out their own sneakers!
In addition to CYI, we will again this year be able to give new sneakers to 300 kids through CYWA. Our goal is to reach every young person whose family is served by CYWA, and send them back to school proud and confident in their new sneakers, ready to take on the world!
Watch our most recent Impact Update here.