Mitchell Richison is a 14-year-old Apollo Beach resident who was inspired by his favorite WWE star, Titus O’Neil, to help those in need in his community.
“I wanted to start collecting donations of shoes to help people during the pandemic,” Mitchell said. “My parents were laid off because of the pandemic, so I wanted to help other people like them.”
Mitchell watched a video on YouTube on how to properly clean a pair of shoes so he could clean up a pair of his and donate them at an event that O’Neil was doing to help those in the community.
“I took the shoes with me to donate to Titus,” Mitchell said. “When I got to meet him and give him my shoes, he told me he wanted me to keep the shoes and give them to someone who needs them, but to also work on a way to raise money to get new shoes for people who needed them because getting new things will have a bigger impact on them.”
This chance meeting gave Mitchell an idea to use the money he made from his dog treat business to buy new shoes and give them to those in need.
“I was proud of him when he cleaned up his old shoes to give to Titus,” said Angie Richison, Mitchell’s mom. “I was even more proud of him when he said he wanted to use the money from his dog treat business to buy new shoes for people.”
Mitchell and one of his friends were given a project in fifth grade of creating a local business. They put their minds together and come up with creating a dog treat business. The project later became a reality and Richwell Dog Treats was born.
“They created their own logo, Facebook page and business plan within a few hours,” Angie said. “They were two very determined kids. Mitchell makes most of his dog treats during the holiday and when he is not busy with school and sports. He saved up his money from sales of the dog treats to buy the shoes.”
To date, Mitchell has purchased more than 60 pairs of shoes and he has donated them to various charities in the SouthShore area that helps those in need.
To learn more about Richwell Dog Treats or to purchase some dog treats to help Mitchell raise more funds to buy more shoes, visit www.facebook.com/richwelltreats or email him at richwelltreats@gmail.com.
