Bare Foot Club

In 776 B.C., Corobeus of Athens, running barefoot, became the first Olympic Champion. Like Coroebeus, millions of poor Brazilian children play sports barefoot because shoes are an unaffordable luxury. Like them, Joaquim Cruz began his career in sports by running and playing without shoes. Only after meeting his coach Luiz de Oliveira did a pair of shoes become a necessary instrument to his training career.

In 1997, Cruz began bringing athletic shoes to Brazil to distribute to young Brazilian athletes. He had the idea one day while in one of his favorite running stores in San Diego. The owner agreed to sell him discontinued and slightly used running shoes at a discount. Since then, the owner has also donated many shoes to what Cruz named “The Barefoot Club.” 

The Barefoot Club is a non-profit program where the main objective is to obtain donations of running shoes to distribute to athletes in Brazil who cannot afford to buy them. 

To sponsor an athlete who cannot afford a pair of shoes is a gesture of goodwill that has the power to change the athlete’s destiny forever. “To donate a pair of shoes is my simple way to thank the people who helped me in the beginning of my running career,” says Cruz. 

You can help too by sponsoring a needy athlete with a pair of athletic shoes!!!