My Friends Place

It has been a busy yet very productive week for the whole team here at RIF LA, we look forward to heading into another busy weekend with the release of the "Black Grape" 5's as well as prepping for the drop of Kanye's newest album Yeezus.  

Shoutout to BJ the Chicago Kid for coming through to the shop, good to see you fam.

Shoutout to up and coming rapper Marty Baller for coming through to the shop for the first time, pleasure to meet you bro.

Along with our busy work schedule, a few staff members have made it a point to use their free time to help lead a shoe drive in order to donate them to the less fortunate youth of Hollywood, California.  Carl arrived early at My Friends Place located at 5850 Hollywood Blvd. to donate the shoes.

Before donating the shoes, we were able to get a tour of the facility.  The front entrance facing Hollywood Blvd. is very nice, featuring a beautiful mural and some shade from the sun, it seems like a very welcoming and home-like feel.  

 

Each wall inside or around the facility feature some type of art painted or made by the kids that are in the program, it really adds a nice touch and shows the creativity that is encouraged here.

This place is located right between Hollywood Blvd and the 101 Freeway, here is the view from the courtyard (looking directly left from the previous picture)

The Core Values encouraged at My Friends Place

Cirque du Monde is a social circus program created by Cirque du Soleil and Jeunesse du Monde, which targets at-risk youth. It combines circus techniques together with educational social intervention to help young people.

There is also a state-of-the-art computer lab in the facility as well where students have full access to computers for any of their needs, whether it be typing a job resume or typing a paper for school.

Along with the computer lab, a fully functioning studio is available for the kids, it is equipped with pro tools so they can actually record or produce music.

Every day there is an average of 80-120 kids who visit My Friends Place, and in addition to providing a nurturing environment they also feed the participants.  Here you can see some pre-made sandwiches with chips.

A quick snap of the pantry with more food for the kids.

Here are just some of the clothes that have been donated.

Carl and Natalie unloading some of the shoes, you can see the spirit of giving back to the community has brought happiness to these two.

Edwin helping out Carl bring in the last of the shoes.

Edwin doing a final count of the donated shoes, looks like there were about 80 pairs.

Final group shot with some of the donations.

A big THANK YOU to Edwin and Natalie for helping make all this possible, we look forward to working with you two and My Friends Place in the future.

Thank you to all of the other staff members as well.

Here at RIF we want you to know that while we may talk about Good People Helping Good People it is not merely a slogan, but it is an aspect of our everyday lives that we have experienced with so many people at the store.  We would like to personally thank each and every one of you who have donated your new or lightly worn shoes for this shoe drive and we will be announcing further plans for another shoe drive later in the year. 

Have a Blessed week

-RIF LA