A kind-hearted young Wellingtonian is ensuring kids who can't afford new shoes for sport don't miss out.
Three years ago Maia Mariner, 15, observed some of her friends couldn't play basketball because they didn't have appropriate footwear.
It prompted her to take action.
"I talked to my parents about this issue and I realised that it's a much bigger issue than I originally thought it was, so after a lot of research and brainstorming I came up with the concept of a shoe bank," she told Te Karere.
In two years, Lazy Sneakers has distributed nearly 1200 pairs of donated shoes, with another 300 being handed out this week.
Maia enlisted the help of senior students at an East Auckland school yesterday, who assisted junior students in finding the perfect pair of shoes.
"They were saying, 'G, you're lying, we're not allowed to keep these shoes. You have to buy them,' and I just told them, 'It's free, I'll help you'," said AJ Faleono.
Freedom Korewha said she was inspired by Maia's work.
"She started it at 12, which I am currently. It's just showing me how much stuff you can accomplish at such a young age."
One day, Maia hopes to take the programme nationwide, but for the moment, she hopes to have collected 3000 pairs of shoes by the end of the year, and to have distributed around 2000.
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