SPOTLIGHT: REVIVAL X, MINORITY-OWNED LOCAL COMPANY
Like many moms, Medjine Ofori and her daughter Melitta have a periodic routine of rummaging through Melitta’s closet and selecting things that she has outgrown and sometimes worn out to be discarded. On many occasions, due to the limited time of a working mom, things get hastily tossed in the trash if there are no plans to use it again. One day as they were going through their routine, Mom was trying to convince Melitta to get rid of a pair of sneakers. They were gently worn, needing some clean up, but aside from that they were in good condition. The real problem was they were now too small. “Why can’t I keep them? They are still pretty!” was the question that came up constantly during these moments. Trying to explain that it was time to let go because they didn’t fit was not enough. In all fairness Mom agreed, it didn’t make sense to get rid of them yet felt guilty giving away dirty sneakers. “Why can’t daddy clean them?” Melitta was referring to their family-owned business Revival X which takes in footwear and provides cleaning services similar to that of a dry cleaner. Sure, it could be cleaned through Revival X and given to their local charity but knowing that so many charities would charge people for the sneakers did not make Melitta happy… hence Sole Revive was born.
Sole Revive was launched by Melitta and her Mom in October 2019 and collects gently used sneakers, cleans them through their partnered company Revival X and distributes the sneakers at no cost to people in need. Melitta is an official ambassador of Sole Revive and helps with the cleaning of the sneakers as well as personally going to shelters and donating her own footwear.
As with any nonprofit, highlighting the importance of the mission is key. As such, Sole Revive created a school program to educate children on the importance of having footwear to be able to go to school, birthday parties, playdates as well as moms and dads who need it to go to work in addition to ensure others have proper footwear for cold winters and hot summers. In partnership with a Revival X Sneaker doctor, Sole Revive conducts sessions in schools to cover all these important points as well as including sneaker cleaning activities with demo sneakers. Each child is provided with a muddy demo sneaker, gloves and cleaning solution. The students get to experience the cleaning process first-hand. At the end of the program they are not only educated on Sole Revive’s mission, but how it’s achieved. Each student also receives an official “Sneaker Doctor” certificate. Within two months of launching the program, Melitta was able to collect over 300 sneakers due to the generosity from parents and her classmates at the French American School of New York.
