• Login
  • |
  • Sign Up
  • |
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Team Up 4 Community

Promoting Social Responsibility & Community Giveback through Athletics

  • Home
  • Community Map
  • Events
  • Activities
  • Resources
  • News
  • Get Involved!
  • About Us
  • Donate
  • Work With Us

Eleven-year-old Freehold wrestler helps donate over $40,000 worth of wrestling shoes

July 3, 2017 By Team Up 4 Community

11-year-old Joe Butler vividly remembers the scene of wrestlers sharing wrestling shoes at a national-level tournament last spring.

“I remember seeing the wrestlers sharing shoes and wondered, ‘Why are they doing that?’ ” Butler said. “I thought about what I could do to help. I asked my father why they didn’t have their own shoes, he gave me the reason why and I asked him if we could start a company to help donate shoes for them.”

Butler’s ambition led to the formation of Wrestle In My Shoes, a non-profit organization which donates wrestling shoes to wrestlers who cannot afford them.

Since starting Wrestle In My Shoes one year ago, Butler’s company has donated over 700 pairs of shoes, equivalent to $40,000 of merchandise.

Any wrestler can donate shoes and Wrestle In My Shoes will cover the cost of shipping to New Jersey and shipping back out to the shoes’ recepients.

“We’ve had an overwhelming amount of support for what we’ve been trying to do,” Joe’s father Joe said. “Joe Pollard at Rutgers was a huge help for us. He was one of our initial donors. He helped us get about 20 pairs of wrestling shoes to donate. Not from the school, but from the kids’ collections. I sometimes wonder how many district, region and state medals had been won in those shoes.”

“Also Gary Mezzacapo of Iron Horse. He came and dropped off 40 singlets and 40 pairs of shoes at my doorstep without being asked or anything.”

Most of the shoes, Mr. Butler said, end up in the midwest.

“We’ve dealt a lot with charter school systems,” Mr. Butler said. “We’ve done a lot with schools out in the midwest. The shoes are going out to Clevland and Cincinatti, Ohio. We’ve done a lot in Minneapolis as well.”

“We actually were able to ship a pair of shoes out to the midwest, this poor kid lives with his grandmother. His father is in jail for murdering his mother. He was a two-time state champion and had been wearing the same shoes he had worn since eighth grade. We were able to send some shoes out to him.”

Source: http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/1012734779542646690/wrestling-11-year-old-freehold-wrestler-helps-donate-over-40000-in-wrestling-shoes/

Recent News

  • Varsity athletes build bonds with elementary students
  • Community service gives youth athletes the tools they need to succeed
  • Pink The Rink: Byram Hills Hockey Nets More Than $7,500 for Breast Cancer Research External Inbox
  • Feeding the homeless
  • Southampton Rotary Club members raise funds for the Retreat
  • Varsity club raises money for Special Olympics through badminton tournament
  • Seaford service-minded students collect coats and more
  • The Great Kindness Challenge kicks off in Three Village
  • Clubs across the district raise $3,800 for Hope for Haiti
  • Copiague Middle School Student Council collects care boxes

TU4C News Archives

Team Up 4 Community

Phone: (866) 206-9168
Fax: (631) 532-4940
Email: info@w20foundation.org

Powered By:

W20 Foundation

Interact

  • Home
  • Community Map
  • Events
  • Activities
  • Resources
  • News

Get Involved!

  • How It Works
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Sign Up

About Us

  • About Us
  • From the Founder Steve Webb
  • The TU4C Ripple Effect
  • Research Supporting TU4C
  • Press and Media
  • Partners
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

WE ARE A RECOGNIZED 501(C)3 ORGANIZATION | © 2023 W20 FOUNDATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  • Home
  • Community Map
  • Events
  • Activities
  • Resources
  • News
  • Get Involved!
  • About Us
  • Donate
  • Work With Us