It all starts at 8:30 a.m. and will include a 5K run/walk, kids run, 100-yard high heel dash (where “competitors” will dress in Sunday-best attire), shoe drive, expo and Corona del Mar High reunion for runners.
It will be like a carnival. Even a dunk tank will be a featured attraction. Sumner won’t mind getting wet for a good cause.
“Newport Harbor [runners] can come dunk me to donate money,” Sumner said. “They can all dunk me.”
He’s willing to give mostly anything for the cause. And if people are having fun, even better.
“I wanted to get something started that would bring the whole community together,” he said. “We have a lot of kids who need help in our community.”
But the shoe drive not only helps children who run, or even just kids in general. This past year, the charity, also known as the Cynthia Holcomb Shoe Foundation, donated shoes to schools, boys’ and girls’ clubs and homeless shelters.
Sumner, as well as all volunteers affiliated with the Magic Shoe effort know these are hard times in a down economy, so they believe Saturday is a great opportunity to bring help to those in need.
That’s all the late Holcomb wanted. Before dying at 45 of a heart attack five years ago, Holcomb always strived to have more shoes donated, Sumner said. Sumner wanted to help children run. Holcomb wanted to help all children. They’ve made a difference
Sumner has seen the charity grow over the years. He knows kids who received help grow up to become teachers or even one an FBI agent.
“Sometimes the shoes are messy and stinky, and I don’t want to go to the laundromat [to clean the shoes],” Sumner said. “But you do one delivery, you’re done, you’ll be doing it forever. Go to a homeless shelter and deliver shoes. It will change your whole mind.”
