COAL VALLEY, Ill. — Sneaker culture has fascinated Brent Hamerlinck since he was young when he would watch Michael Jordan in his iconic Air Jordans playing for the Chicago Bulls.
"Shoes always been an obsession with me," Hamerlinck said. "For me, coming from a larger family we just didn't have the funds to purchase Jordans at the time."
Despite it not being easy for him to be like Mike during his playing days, Hamerlinck continued his passion for sneakers, sharing it with his children, Ethan and Carter.
Earlier this year, Hamerlinck underwent shoulder surgery. For three months, he would visit his wife at a local elementary school and would have lunch with students as well. During this time, he realized many students lack some of the basics including shoes.
"A lot of kids aren't very fortunate," Hamerlinck said. "It's here I thought about a way that I could help and make their lives a little better."
That's when he started collecting new and gently used shoes to help as many as he could.
"I just started early this month," Hamerlinck said. "We've probably bought roughly 60 pairs of shoes, we've also received somewhere to 40 to 50, pairs of us shoes that are all in amazing shape"
Now 100 pairs of shoes are sitting in his living room, but it wasn't done all by himself.
"The amount of generous people that have helped us has blown me away," he added. "It's what pushed our numbers so high and I can't believe how quickly it's taken off."
Hamerlinck aims to give all the shoes to East Moline School District students. He hopes he's able to continue doing so, throughout the year.
He has started a Facebook group "Christmas Kicks for Kids" and says he will post updates when they are available. Donations to the effort can be made on Venmo and Cash App @Brent-Hamerlinck.