Sole Brothers’ mission is to provide goods and services to the underserved, with our primary focus on providing gently worn athletic footwear to those in need. Additionally, we will provide financial assistance to help kids pursue their athletic endeavors and recreational opportunities.
Sole Brothers’ currently provides small scholarships to students who have been accepted to a four year college or university. Our goal is to be able to pay for a full year of college. Your donations will help us achieve this goal. Any amount is appreciated and no amount is too small. Your tax deductible donation can be provided by selecting the donate button below.
Sole Brothers was started in spring of 2010. A group of graduating 8th grade basketball players from Crossroads School in Santa Monica needed to complete community service hours. They formed the idea to have a shoe drive and then donate all shoes collected to the Santa Monica Police Athletic League. In the spring of 2012 Travon Muhammad was coaching against a team from San Gabriel Valley and noticed a young man on the opposing team was playing extremely well. After the game as the teams were shaking hands, Travon let the young man know he has a lot of talent and he should keep working hard. He then glanced at his shoes and noticed the shoes were worn down vans. Travon’s initial thought was the young man left his basketball shoes at home and inquired about the shoes. The young man replied “these are all I got” and in conversation they just happen to wear the same size shoes. So Travon went to his car and gave him a pair of his basketball shoes. His face lit up like a child on Christmas. This was the first individual Sole Brothers donation and has evolved into a nonprofit 501c3 organization. We now collect gently worn athletic shoes and donate them to those in need. Sole Brothers has also formed several Club travel basketball teams, providing coaching, mentoring, and individual skill training. Our vision is to be able to donate shoes, teach basketball skills, and mentor kids and young adults nationally and internationally.
Original Sole Brothers: Chase Coleman…Mackenzie Cregan…Charlie Davis…Sol Fagenson…Henry Fillo…Brandon Fox…Paxton Fuller…Sam Gaynor…Charlie Hall…Griffin Levitan…Robert Munn…Alec Singer…Micah Stein
Our Best Volunteers
Co-Founder/ CEO
Attended Crossroads High School from 1989-1993, where he earned All-CIF and All-State honors, and was one of the leaders of the team that won a CIF championship in 1992. After high school, he was recruited to play basketball at UC Davis, where he attended from 1993-1998. He was a key member of the Men’s Basketball team that won the Division II National Championship in 1998. He chased his professional basketball dreams until 2000, and then began coaching California Team Select – one of the premiere AAU teams in California at that time. Every player on that team went on to play Division I basketball, with some going on to play professionally overseas and even a few who went on to play in the NBA. After spending three years with Cal Select, he began working with Baron Davis’ Rising Stars Program, as well as teaching and coaching Varsity basketball at Crossroads School. In the Spring of 2010, the youth team he was coaching started a community service project of collecting and donating athletic shoes, which were mainly distributed to the Santa Monica Police Activities League (PAL). After two years of donating shoes to PAL he decided to expand their efforts into a non-profit organization and in March of 2013, along with Rich Singer, he co-founded Sole Brothers.org.
Co-Founder/ CFO
Rich has had a life-long passion for working with kids, specifically in coaching and mentoring. After spending several summers in his youth working as a camp counselor, the “real world” pulled him away into various jobs including work as a network television executive, writing for the FOX NFL Pre-Game Show, (generating a Sports Emmy), writing on staff for a network sit-com and even a brief foray as a partner in a mortgage banking/escrow company. But deep down, there was a void. So, he proceeded to get his teaching credential and master’s degree in Education, leading him back to working with kids. Initially working as an administrator (Dean of Students) at a small private school, he began coaching and his connection with the kids via athletics has been a true joy ever since. His coaching has stretched from middle school all the way up through high school level, and has included basketball, flag football, baseball and golf. Citing his experiences in youth sports, Rich looks to create a positive environment for kids to not only learn how to enhance their skills, but how to become better teammates on and off the court.
