From the Ground Up: Changing Lives, One Pair of Shoes at a Time

I’ve been around this industry and this community a long time, and one thing I know for sure is this: when Fresno shows up for kids, we show up big.

The Fresno Association of REALTORS® Affiliate Committee is doing it again with Kicks 4 Kids 2026, supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California. And this year’s goal is bold.

400 pairs of brand-new shoes for local kids.

Not 40.
Not 140.
Four hundred.

Why shoes? Because if you’ve ever watched a kid lace up a fresh pair for the first time, you get it. It’s not just about footwear. It’s confidence. It’s pride. It’s walking into school feeling like you belong. It’s running at recess without worrying about worn-out soles or hand-me-downs that don’t quite fit.

Sometimes the smallest things carry the biggest weight.

This year they’re keeping it simple. Instead of collecting physical shoes, they’re accepting monetary donations and using those funds to purchase brand-new pairs for kids served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central California. That means the shoes are exactly what the kids need, exactly when they need them.

If you want to help, it’s easy.
Use the QR code on the event materials or call the FAR office at (559) 490-6400. Every single dollar moves the needle toward that 400-pair goal.

I love sharing things like this because this is Fresno at its best. Local professionals, local businesses, and neighbors coming together to make sure kids in our own backyard feel seen and supported.

Let’s rally behind this one and get it done.

Four hundred pairs of fresh kicks on four hundred young feet in 2026.

Confidence starts from the ground up.

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Jason Farris

Head YES man at FresYes.com

I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES

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