GABRIEL VARONA – Founder, Shoes for Streets
Gabriel Varona was born and raised in Miami, Florida and is a former professional MMA fighter. He used his years of experience as an athlete to become one of South Miami’s best personal trainers. Gabriel took advantage of his resources to collect sneakers and founded Shoes for Streets in 2014.
The mission of Shoes for Streets is to “bring awareness to the community and hope to the homeless, a sector that is too often forgotten, by distributing gently used sneakers and food on a regular basis.
It all started when Gabriel was getting to work one day and saw a homeless man digging in a dumpster looking for shoes. The man explained to Gabriel how his shoes had holes in them and after finding out that they shared the same size, Gabriel took off the sneakers he was currently wearing and gifted them to the man.
Soon after that incident, Gabriel’s pastor, David Hughes from Church by the Glades, spoke about the importance of helping others in need and taking advantage of our resources to make a difference.
A combination of a lingering feeling to do more is exactly what Gabriel needed to create Shoes for Streets. Gabriel is a personal trainer based out of M Cycle located in South Miami. He started with one drop off box at the gym where he quickly collected gently used sneakers from the gym members. Word spread quickly and now there are various drop off locations with containers all over Miami. Once the containers are full, Gabriel picks up the shoes, organizes them by size and hands them out one by one to homeless individuals.
Conexion congratulates Gabriel Varona for making a difference in the lives of the men and women he helps.
