DECATUR, Ala. — Going back to school can be an exciting time for students but for some students, there's a lot of insecurity. "A lot of these kids or families can't afford the latest and the greatest, Casey Hughes, owner of Kommunity Kicks shares. "You know, again, you can buy new pairs of shoes and feel great, but if you have a new pair of shoes that are custom catered to you, it's going to make you feel that much better."
Hughes is sharing his passion for sneakers through is organization Kommunity Kicks. He started the organization last year, but his approach has a creative approach. "So, Kommunity Kicks, what we do is we take underprivileged kids in our community, and we send them back to school with custom painted air force ones." Hughes shares. "We target 12- to 18-year-old teenagers. In the event that their family has siblings, we take all of the siblings shoe shopping in either Hibbett's or Top Score here in Decatur where we buy those siblings whatever pair of shoes that they would like so that they feel just as important as their big brother and big sister."
If you are new to sneaker culture, Air Force 1's are consider a staple in a person's shoe rotation. "That air force one is kind of that status symbol. It's right up there with Nike Dunk," Hughes shares. "I'm old school, almost 40 years old so the Air Force is more relatable."
The unique thing about these shoes is that the kids put own their touch on them. "We bring the kids into our lab and me, you know, Brian Hewlett from OBliterated Kustomz, we sit down with the kids and the kids design their shoes to their preference," Hughes shares." So, if they want Spider-Man fighting Iron Man, that's what they get. Whatever is going to help them boost their personality and boost their confidence, that's what we do."
For the kids it’s a confidence boost, for Hughes, it's a dream realized. "This started in 2022, three weeks before school started," Hughes shares. " I told my wife I wanted to send kids back with custom painted shoes. This year the community of the Morgan County Decatur Area really stepped up and we're looking forward to expanding into the North Alabama and Huntsville for next year."
You have the opportunity to get your hand on a pair of custom painted shoes and more with a raffle starting on July 10. Detail can be found on the Kommunity Kicks Facebook page.