Growing up a first-generation Filipino American in Glendale Heights, Jeff Masangcay had a humble upbringing. His father was a union worker who taught his family the core values of hard work and love.
At 7-years-old his father gifted him a pair of Jordan 6 Carmines, “those shoes made me feel like I was Michael Jordan, made me feel like I could fly, my imagination just blew up with those shoes,” he said. Falling in love with sneakers at such a young age shaped him into the sneakerhead he is today.
Something else Jeff fell in love with at a young age was helping others as his father was a great advocate and volunteer for good causes. Jeff began to follow in his footsteps and began volunteering after his trip in 2012.
In 2012 Jeff took a life-changing trip alongside his brother Emmanuel Masangcay to the Philippines, where they visited their mother's village Casilagan in the Pangasinan province. While there, they witnessed the poor living conditions of the villagers.
“You hear all the stories about their lives over there, and they tell us how lucky we are to live here in the United States. I was in shock when we saw their living conditions.”
On an early morning, instead of waking up to roosters in Casilagan, they woke up to the sounds of basketballs dribbling. They got up and walked over to the park, where they came across over 50 kids playing with a single basketball, and what shocked them the most was that none of them had shoes.
“I was just like, ‘man I got 17 basketballs and 50 pairs of shoes in my garage.’ It gave us a culture shock, and we came up with this idea.”
Between 2012 and 2017, Jeff began to volunteer back in the Chicagoland area at the Special Olympics. In 2017, Jeff founded Bata Sole. Bata, which means kid in Tagalog, the native tongue of the Philippines, is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that aims to collect and distribute used and athletic shoes to those in need.
From Jeff’s initial trip to the Philippines that left him heartbroken and disturbed due to his people's living conditions, he converted those feelings into a motivation factor for change.
The same year after founding Bata Sole, Jeff and his brother went back to their mother's village and handed out over 1,000 pairs of shoes.
“I saw kids struggling to put on a sneaker. I asked a mom, 'does he know how to tie his shoes?’ The mom said, ‘no these are his first sneakers.’ He was about 7-years-old.”
Since 2017, Bata Sole has been working hard and lacing up kids in communities in need across Chicago and in villages in the Philippines. Their team has steadily grown from just two to nine team members who are passionate about what they do day to day.
“Bata to me as a whole isn’t just an organization, it’s a movement. Something about empowering and helping others brings such a great feeling. What I can say, though, is we are just scratching the surface of what this team is going to accomplish.”
Bata Sole Media Team Member
In a few short years, they have managed to team up with many sponsors and teams such as RESHOEVN8R. All while giving back to various communities across the Chicagoland area and managed to organize two separate trips to give out shoes in the Philippines. Bata Sole has put smiles on over 5,000 kids and counting.
