A New York-based sneaker retail has decided to use the publicity of the Air Jordan 1 Retro OG Royals as a way to give back to Flint, Michigan. The sneakers are back by popular demand and it’s the same pair of shoes that Michael Jordan rocked in the iconic 1985 poster that was shot by sports photographer Chuck Kuhn. They were officially released on April 1st, six months after the return of its brother, the “Banned” Air Jordan 1.
RISE New York, a premium sneak retailer, created a raffle to raise money for Flint. Many people have probably forgotten that the city of Flint has been without a drinkable source of public water since April 2014. The city’s water has been contaminated due to lead poisoning. There’s also been an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, which has killed 10 people and affected 77 others. That’s approximately 100,000 people who have been with clean drinking water for almost three years.
During the week of the release, RISE made all of its pairs of Air Jordan Royals available through a raffle to raise money that will directly benefit the residents of Flint. The money was collected through ticket sales and went towards the Flint Child Health and Development Fund. Rise even paid all of the processing fees so that every dime that was donated would go directly to Flint. Winners of the raffle would be able to purchase the sneakers at $160, which is the retail price. The price of the sneakers skyrocketed immediately after the release, as predicted. The raffle ran until Friday, March 31st and raised raise $8,910 for Flint.
The coveted Air Jordan 1 Royals features a black leather upper with a buttery tumbled leather being placed on the blue portions of the shoe. The midsole is white, white the outsole is blue. It hasn’t been available to the public since its last release in 2013. This time it was released with the Royal Air Jordan 31 aka the “Flight Guy Collection” which retails at $185.
