Rudy Washington IV. was born in Ann Arbor MI. Rudy is 12 years old and loves to swim, sing and play the drums. However, his biggest passion is helping others. In 2015, after reading that socks were the least donated but the most needed, Rudy founded Rudy’s Sock Drive, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Michigan. Through sock drives, Rudy collects new socks for the homeless. The socks are donated to shelters throughout SE Michigan.
However, on cold winter nights, you can find Rudy and his parents out walking the streets of Detroit giving out items to help keep the homeless warm. These items include, but are not limited to; hand and feet warmers, gloves, coats, hats, scarfs and packages of socks. All donated items must be new. One-night Rudy even walked a homeless man inside a local drug store and paid for his prescription with his last 11 dollars.
Shortly after starting his nonprofit, Rudy was bullied out of school. While being homeschooled, Rudy decided to turn tragedy into triumph. Rudy begin researching bullying, how it affects people, what to do if you are being bullied and what not to do. This is when Rudy’s No Bully Zone was birthed. Rudy now travels to elementary and middle schools raising awareness on the effects of bulling through school assemblies. This is made easy for him seeing that he loves public speaking.