Cool Kid Christian Nelson helps put shoes on the feet of OC homeless

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Our ABC7 Cool Kid for Thursday, May 29, is Christian Nelson.

The 17-year-old junior wanted to help the people at Lighthouse Outreach, a non-profit that serves the homeless, but wasn't sure what the best way to help would be.

"When we were talking to the people around here, they said shoes are a super important thing, because they all have to keep moving all the time," Christian recalled. "So obviously you have to have shoes and a bag, those are sort of the essentials."

After he found the "need," Christian had to figure out where to get the shoes.

He played basketball ball at Mater Dei High School and saw many of the players get brand new shoes at the end of the season. So he thought, what about the used shoes the players would potentially toss?

"There's a lot of shoes that would go to waste. So we took that need and we went to our athletes and coaches and then used that as our basis to get our shoes," Christian said.

He's now been appointed as a founding member of the junior board of directors at Lighthouse Outreach.

"What Lighthouse let me do is they really let me expand on my task and let me take it into my own hands, which is how this happened," he said. "They told me what the need was and then I just got to run with it."

In his new role, Christian hopes to help expand the program to other high schools in the area.

The 17-year-old says he knows he's lucky to have all that he does, but always tries to be aware about those less fortunate.

"As a community, we all have to help each other out. One day you might be here and one day you might be out. So it's really important to be able to see both aspects of it," Christian said. "If you're in this position, you'd want someone to help you."

Watch Christian's story above.