Meet Rami Rifi, the 16-year-old Staten Island student who turned a closet clean-out into a project supplying new shoes to children in need

Rami Rifi, a Staten Island teenager and founder of the Play Passion Project, is a young philanthropist providing new shoes to children in need through a youth-led nonprofit shoe drive. What began as a wardrobe clear-out has grown into a charitable footwear donation initiative serving schoolchildren, families and communities in New York and across the world. Built by a high school junior, the student-led giving movement collects new and lightly worn pairs, then places them directly with children who need them. It stands as a practical model of teenage community service and ethical charity, powered by dedicated volunteers and local vendors.How unworn shoes, profit-driven donation bins and one teenager's question sparked a New York nonprofitRifi, who attends Staten Island Academy, was clearing out his closet when the idea took shape. He told ABC7NY that the shoes he no longer wore were in good quality and he did not want to throw them away. According to the Play Passion Project website, he found 32 pairs, then looked into donating them and discovered that most donation bins near him are run for profit. Shoes left there would feed a resale pipeline instead of reaching someone who needed them. That gap between what donors intend and where their gifts actually end up became the reason the organisation exists.From 1,500 pairs in three weeks to 80,000 pairs: how the Play Passion Project shoe drives scaled upThe first shoe drive followed soon afterwards and gathered 1,500 pairs in just three weeks, far more than anyone had expected from a first attempt. Rather than simply collecting more, the team set out to build a direct line between the person giving and the person receiving. Within the first 12 months, the drives had moved 40,000 pairs. The organisation now reports that 80,000 pairs have reached people who needed them.The Public School 74 surprise was that every pupil received new sneakers, snow boots and dress shoesAhead of the winter break, ABC7NY reported that a gym at Public School 74 became a surprise shoe shop. Every pupil left with new sneakers, snow boots, dress shoes and slides. Rifi planned the send-off with local vendors who filled goodie bags, and children from each grade paraded past Santa before collecting their pairs. Principal Susan Mazzeo told the station that about 50 pupils at the school live in shelters and that it serves a high-poverty community, so any joy the project could bring was welcome. For Rifi, the gesture goes beyond footwear. "The shoes represent dignity, confidence, having something comfortable to walk in, even," he said.How a kindergartener's dinosaur boots inspired the Youth Empowerment Program for student organisersOne moment during that first year changed the organisation's direction, the Play Passion Project website explains. A kindergarten pupil named Gilbert donated his favourite pair of dinosaur boots, and they eventually reached a boy named Christopher in Guatemala. A single pair of shoes connected two children who never met. The episode convinced the team that young people are best placed to carry the work forward, which led to the Youth Empowerment Program. It says the programme has empowered 455 students across four states, training them to run drives, manage logistics and lead in their own communities.The community partners and awards behind the Play Passion Project shoe nonprofit across New York CityThe organisation appears at community events alongside the New York City Police Department. It also works with the Staten Island Giving Circle, Seaman's Society, Soles4Souls, Safe Horizon and a growing list of nonprofits and schools. Its work has drawn public recognition, including a Congressional Gold Medal and a feature as NY1's New Yorker of the Week. The mission remains deliberately simple: put shoes on the feet of people in need while giving the younger generation the means to make that happen.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.