About Ricardo Vidal de Oliveira

This is how Ricardo is a Changemaker:
In 1989, Joaquim Cruz began an initiative to help a friend: Jânio Bezerra, from Águas Lindas in Goiás, which consisted of sending him spreadsheets so that he could deliver the training sessions to the youths of that region. Later on, they realized the need to supply these youths with a proper pair of tennis shoes, given the youths’ need and the intensity of the training. Cruz began to bring semi-new pairs of tennis shoes in his luggage, which he then distributed to the athletes that were dedicating themselves on a daily basis. This went on for a decade, with the only change being in the amount of shoes brought in each trip. In 1999, Cruz was invited to take part in a street competition in Maranhão. He asked the organizers for funds to acquire pairs of tennis shoes that would be distributed to the event’s participants. He brought a large suitcase that was not allowed entry into Brazil, because the shoes were allegedly new and had a commercial purpose. Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Cruz was asked if this episode would prevent his initiative of bringing more tennis shoes. He replied no, and added a decision: “Next time I’ll bring twice as many and will found the Clube dos DescalSOS (Barefoot/SOS Club)”. And so it happened. In January 2003, the Instituto Joaquim Cruz (IJC) was established – the social arm, or rather leg, of an Olympic champion, with the purpose of structuring and systematizing the actions and benefits of the Clube dos DescalSOS/Caixa and participate in building a fairer society, inspired by the history of a poor boy from Taguatinga who came across an opportunity to change his reality through sports.

The change Ricardo passionately wants to happen:
IJC seeks to partner with community leaders who are already performing work with athletic/running practices, thus enabling it to expand and systematize the benefits offered to athletes.