When Chris Strachan aka COSeezy partnered with the people of the Ntibonera Foundation, he decided he was going to exceed expectations from the very beginning. Yes, he told us all that he was on a mission to collect 20,000 pairs of sneakers, and he ended with 30,000 pairs.
The mission went viral. Kick’n It for a Cause wasn’t just a thing in the United States. People from all around the world, as far as countries like Taiwan, were posting videos and sending slightly used sneakers to Liberty University, COSeezy’s alma mater.
It wasn’t just sneakers, however. Yes, the shoes were the crux of why this all began, but Chris was able to get donations of food and medical supplies, necessities that are so badly needed for underdeveloped countries like the Republic of Congo and Rwanda. This isn’t a one-and-done either. The Kick’n It for a Cause Foundation led by COSeezy has big plans for the years to come.
Seeing that they were able to shatter their goal of 20,000 in just 3 months made Chris realize that a year can make a world of difference.
We want to raise 100,000 sneakers. To provide sneakers, transportation of sneakers and resources medical supplies, clean drinking water, food, educational resources, clothing. We want to expand our efforts into other African countries in need beyond the Republic of Congo. We want this event to bigger and bigger every year. It’s important to me that this isn’t a thing we do once a year and the next day things are the same for these people. We want to continue providing them with resources and following some of the kids to see that these resources are helping them have a better life.
For COSeezy the sneaker culture has been everything to him since he was a child. Bonding with his father as a youth because of the sneaker culture gave him the impetus to make Kick’n It a real thing as an adult. Now Kick’n It has become more than Chris even imagined at its inception.
I spent most weekends with my pops and on the weekends, he would pick me up and our first stop was the sneaker store. It became a place that he and I developed a strong father- son bond and Its where I really got to understand and experience the power of hip-hop culture. The love of sneakers brought people together from so many different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and in a society where there are so many factors that separate people, sneakers and pop-culture unite. There is no better representation of that than the Kick’n It For a Cause: Cease Fire in Rwanda.
Chris has full intentions of trying to get this initiative to go global, but since it all began in the Republic of Congo and Rwanda, he plans on always going back there. To donate to the Kick’n It Foundation, click the link for www.paypal.me/kicknit. You can also follow the foundation on Instagram @kicknit_.
Flip the page to see some more videos of his time with the people of the Republic of Congo and Rwanda.