Teen sneakerhead and entrepreneur from NJ giving back to his community

NEW JERSEY - On Monday, 13-year-old Joseph Petruzzelli unlocked for us a cabinet containing his most prized possessions.

"And this pair does come with the original box," Joseph said, "so this I value around 3,000."

That was $3,000 in American currency for a pair of shoes owned by an eighth-grader, who also held 84 other pairs of varying, but substantial values before he opened up a pop-up shop in Hoboken attempting to sell them all.

"A lot of people don't understand the sneaker game," Joseph said.

Joseph started hoarding kicks two years ago and quickly learned from YouTube and mentors at sneaker shows he needed more money to fund his operation, so he started shopping at the Supreme store.

"I would buy [a shirt] in the store for like 60 bucks and then walk outside and sell it for 100," he said.

Over time, Joseph built up capital, a social media following, and some connections.

"So, then I started to start flipping shoes," Joseph said.

"He's one of the great kids in our community," Jubilee Center of Hoboken board of trustees president David Tornabene said.

Tornabene praised Joseph on Tuesday not because the leader of this organization providing underprivileged kids with after-school programs, homework help, dinners, snacks, and a summer camp wanted to cop a vintage pair of Yeezys but because young Joseph planned to donate a portion of this pop-up store's sales to the Jubilee Center to help it add programming and scholarships.

"He knows some of the kids that we serve and he had a heart for the community," Tornabene said.

"If I'm making money," Joseph said, "I like to give it back. I don't like having it all to myself."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Joseph said he'd sold around 50 pairs of his shoes for a sum of money he declined to share with FOX 5 NY.

"People just don't realize it's like artwork," he said. "Some of the stuff is very limited. It's very difficult to find."