Shoe fairy helps Kent track team put in the miles

For Trudy Schug, the gut-check moment came when, as a P.E. teacher in the Kent School District, she gave a pair of athletic shoes to one of her students.

“She started crying and said, ‘My mom is going to be so proud. Between you and the homeless shelter I am so blessed,’” Schug said of the student, whom she knew from classes at Neely O’Brien Elementary, and who was actually wearing her grandfather’s shoes, because she had none of her own.

“Those words changed my life,” Schug said.

Today, Schug is known as “the shoe fairy” to the students she teaches in the Kent schools. That’s because she puts her other job – as a grassroots marketing director for Roadrunner Sports at Kent Station – to good use, creating a pipeline for the store’s donated-shoe program to students who otherwise couldn’t afford them.

“It’s turned into my little side project,” Schug said. “At our stores, people will donate their used shoes. For a runner who does 500 miles on a treadmill, they may seem run down, but for a child with holes in their shoes, they’re good. They’re such good-quality shoes, they really do feel good.”

The biggest moment came in March, when she worked with Roadrunner to gift Scenic Hill Elementary’s track team with 80 pairs of running shoes.

Schug said it was a combination of need, as well as acknowledging the big heart of the school’s track coach, Mike Carney, who she said works tirelessly to help his young athletes.

“He is just one of those above-and-beyond guys,” Schug said. “I thought,’wow, If I can do this for one school’s track program, it’d be this one.’”

Carney was equally effusive in his praise for Schug and the shoes.

“It was an amazing, positive experience for our kids,” Carney said. “A lot of our kids come from situations that make it difficult to provide new shoes. The excitement on their faces when they received those shoes was just amazing.”

Carney noted Schug’s gesture also played into the message educators at Scenic Hill are trying to impress into their young charges.

“To be able to experience that – the experience of gift-giving, and helping others in the community. They really take that to heart,” he said of his students.

Early on, when Schug decided she needed to acquire that many used shoes, she posted her request to the management of Roadrunners. To her surprise, she got an e-mail back from the corporation’s Director of Retail Operations Chuck Abood, telling her he was rounding up 50 pairs of brand-new shoes to add to the mix.

“He did it as a gift,” Schug said, expressing her surprise at the generosity. “He gave me last year’s clearance colors. Fifty pairs were new, and the rest looked brand new. I didn’t have to do any cleaning up.”

Following the arrival of the shoes, Schug and one of the management of Roadrunner Sports went to Scenic Hill March 2 and presented the whole track team with their new shoes. The youngsters were elated to be getting such snazzy footwear.

“They all jumped up – they were cheering,” Schug said.

“Even our employees donated their once-worns,” Schug said of the Roadrunner crew.

Today, too, Schug said she’s elated to see the response she’s still getting from the young athletes, whenever they see her.

“They run up and say ‘thank you so much,’” Schug said.

The team also created a large, hand-written thank-you card, which Schug has hung proudly in the Kent Station Roadrunner store.

HELP MORE

‘Shoe Fairy’ Trudy Schug is continuing to take donated shoes from the community for others in need, including student athletes in different schools and community organizations that serve those in need, such as women’s shelters. To learn more about the program Schug is involved with through Roadrunner Sports, or to donate used, adult-sized running shoes, contact Schug via e-mail at tschug@roadrunnersports.com.

Carney is attempting to collect lightly used running shoes in children’s sizes for several more of his track athletes. Contact Carney at michael.carney@kent.k12.wa.us.