Grace Hand is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Brophy Prep for AZPreps365.com

A chance encounter at the intersection of Mayo Boulevard and Scottsdale Road led to the start of some life-changing work.

Jake Krotonsky and Alec Bansal, sophomores at Brophy Prep at the time, noticed a man standing on the side of the road in the Phoenix heat wearing a worn-down pair of shoes. 

“We figured rather than, you know, giving him some money and going along with our day, we approached him and asked what size he was,” Krotonsky said. “He told us he was a size 11 and we went over to a nearby Dick’s Sporting Goods and got him a new pair of size 11 Nike shoes. That’s pretty much how our operation started.”

Since gifting the first pair of shoes in September 2021, Krotonsky and Bansal have seen the impact of their organization, called Soles 2 Souls, spread across the Valley. They have built relationships with other non-profits in the Phoenix area, including Of One Heart, AZ Helping Hands, and Saving Amy. 

“Saving Amy, they mainly help families with single mothers getting out of homelessness,” Krotonsky said. “We got pairs of basketball shoes for these three boys, and seeing their faces and wanting to put on the shoes and go outside, go run around and play basketball, was really impactful.”

Bansal agreed that the shoes are just the beginning of the story.

“I think the greatest fulfillment is just finding a purpose that goes beyond just ourselves and something that we’re continually able to do and continue to grow,” Bansal said. “It’s been amazing to be able to look back on that and have that type of confidence that we can be leaders in our community and direct that sort of change with others.”

Though Krotonsky and Bansal created Soles 2 Souls, they found that many of their friends at Brophy shared the same passion for shoes and community service that they did. One such person is Eddie Martinez-Estrada, a Brophy football player and the director of marketing and public relations at Soles 2 Souls. 

“So personally, I love making people happy,” Martinez-Estrada said. “That’s like the key thing in my life. Every day I try to make at least one person’s day. You get pretty happy when you have a brand new pair of kicks to go to school with the next day.”

Both Martinez-Estrada and Krotonsky pointed to the personal connections that they have been able to make in the community as the most rewarding part of their experience so far. 

“We’re not just collecting shoes,” Martinez-Estrada said. “Every kid has their different reaction. There was this boy, like in fifth grade, but he was a size 11 and we couldn’t find a shoe for him. But then we had a shoe in our car, it was a size 11 Jordan 1, so it was a pretty hype shoe. We ended up giving it to him and his reaction was priceless. He ended up hugging us, it was awesome.”

However, the impact does not only apply to the marginalized communities that receive shoes from Souls 2 Soles. 

“Sure, you can give someone a pair of shoes and that’s really going to make their day and maybe their month,” Krotonsky said. “But what’s really going to change the world is getting other people involved and wanting to help. We’ve had multiple people come up to us and say hey, we love what you guys do. We want to start a similar thing.” 

Now in their senior year, Krotonsky, Bansal, and Martinez-Estrada are faced with the challenge of keeping ties to the Phoenix community while attending colleges in different states. To keep their organization thriving, they established a club at Brophy to continue the legacy of Soles 2 Souls after they graduate. 

Adding new members did not mean that the original group of Soles 2 Souls board members took their jobs less seriously. They plan to bring their work in Phoenix to the communities around their future universities and already have events lined up for the end of this year. They aim to get more of the Brophy community involved in the organization while also fundraising to keep giving out shoes. 

“We’re having a fun run,” Martinez-Estrada said. “We haven’t done any really community-based things yet, so this would be the first big event that we’ve had. So, it’s going to be a lot of hands-on work. We’re hoping to have a lot of people in the community come, like teachers and faculty.”

“You’ll have the opportunity to either compete in a competitive race or just recreational laps around the track,” Bansal said. “A lot of our board members are athletes and like athletic activities, so that was the inspiration behind the event.”

The event doubles as an anniversary for Soles 2 Souls as they passed the two-year mark in September. Bansal noted how the importance of their work in the community remains clear.

“Something that continues to drive us is our purpose and our passion for this work,” Bansal said. “So that’s something that keeps us going even when we’re tired from doing other things or busy.”

The Soles 2 Souls Fun Run will be held Saturday, Dec. 9, at the Brophy Sports Complex from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.