The Gotta Have Sole Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides children living in shelters across the United States with brand-new footwear, has awarded five $1,000 scholarships to deserving college students.

Nicholas Lowinger, who founded the nonprofit back in 2010, is graduating from the Wheeler School this year; as a senior, he is very aware of the rising costs of higher education. Since he has met so many teens over the years through his program, many with dreams and aspirations for college, he wanted to assist them in achieving their goals.

The Gotta Have Sole scholarship program provides extraordinary teens and young adults in need with the funds to take a step forward. Recipients were selected based on the following criteria: strength of heart, dedication to community, dreams for the future, financial need, and personal impact.

Recipients also had to be between the ages of 17 and 22 years of age; entering their first year of higher education at an accredited institution, technical college, or vocational school; U.S. citizens; and had to have an unweighted GPA of 2.0 or above from the most recent academic year.

Gotta Have Sole is proud to announce that Katie Dumas from Cranston is an awardee for the 2016-2017 academic year. Katie is a senior at Cranston High School West who dreams of becoming an emergency room physician. She will be attending the University of Maine with a major in biochemistry to help her reach this goal.

Katie played basketball for her school and is a peer tutor as often as she can. When not in school, she works at Cold Stone Creamery and enjoys reading in her spare time.

Katie will receive a $1,000 college scholarship and a brand new pair of Converse sneakers in her size.

For further information about Gotta Have Sole or its scholarship program, visit gottahavesole.org.