What happens when a young student decides “someone should do something”… and becomes that someone?
That’s exactly what happened when Mylan, a student from North Carolina, noticed that some of his classmates were coming to school in shoes that didn’t fit, were worn out, or weren’t right for the season. Instead of looking away, he asked how he could help.
The result is Mylan’s Shoe Closet, a youth-led kindness project that’s helping students across the Carolinas walk into school with comfort, confidence, and pride.
Through Ignite Your Impact, a youth service program of Affordable Housing for the Carolinas, Mylan turned a simple idea into a growing community movement. With support from a $1,000 Kindness Grant, he and his peers purchased new shoes for the closet, including during a back-to-school shopping day that allowed students to choose the pairs that made them feel confident and cared for. Every student’s ability to select their own shoes transforms what could be a small act into a meaningful moment of dignity and choice.
It’s a simple concept with a huge ripple effect. By meeting a basic need, Mylan is addressing something much deeper: confidence, belonging, and the ability for students to show up fully at school. When a child feels proud of how they look and comfortable in what they’re wearing, it impacts everything from participation to self-esteem.
But perhaps the most inspiring part is how this project has caught on. What started as one student’s act of empathy is now sparking a wave of kindness. Mylan’s family, classmates, and even community members have joined in, asking how they can help and how they can bring similar efforts to their own neighborhoods.
As one member of our Kindness Grant team shared, “I really like the youth inspired project motivated by one young person’s vision for empathy and kindness… [and] the potential it has to motivate more young people to create their own service learning project”.
At the TDB Family Foundation, we believe that kindness grows powerfully in the hands of young people. Mylan’s Shoe Closet beautifully embodies our pillars of Amplifying Voices of Youth and Building Thriving Communities, showing what happens when compassion and action meet.
We’re proud to support this inspiring initiative and can’t wait to see how Mylan’s ripple of kindness continues to expand across the Carolinas.
➡️ Learn more about this project and Affordable Housing for the Carolinas at https://www.ahftc.org/mylansshoecloset
Photo courtesy of Affordable Housing For The Carolina’s