When Luke MacDonald isn't busy selling footwear, he's sorting through secondhand sneakers to give them a new home.

“By taking back gently worn shoes by runners we could provide footwear to the homeless of Halifax and so that's how it all really started,” says MacDonald.

MacDonald, co-owner of a Halifax sporting goods store, began his Fit-it-Forward project ten years ago and hasn’t looked back since.

Last year, his customers began donating money so the less fortunate could receive a brand new pair of fitted shoes. Once word spread on social media, some of his suppliers also got involved.

“Since then I've been trying to fit as many people as possible, because you have to sit down and fit every single one of them,” says MacDonald.

MacDonald visits shelters around the municipality and, since last winter, he's given out 150 pairs of shoes to both men and women.

Dr. Colin Van Zoost is also involved with the Fit-it-Forward program. He says it's essential to have proper footwear, especially during the colder months.

“Common things we see with people who are wearing runners this time of year, who are on their feet for a couple days in a row, they can start to get what's called trench foot – where their foot gets really wet and super saturated with water and then you start to get skin breakdown, that increases the risk of infection,” says Dr. Van Zoost

Michelle Porter is the executive director at Souls Harbour Rescue mission. She understands the importance of footwear that fits and sees firsthand the impact MacDonald’s initiative has on the community.

“It's very important to him that people with the worst feet get shoes first,” says Porter.

MacDonald says his reason for helping others is simple.

“Because it's wrong not too, that's the bottom line. If you know you have a problem you can fix, fix it.”

MacDonald says he's hoping other cities and towns will show interest in his initiative. So far, he's already heard from a philanthropist in the United Kingdom who's interested in Fit-it-Forward.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau