Troop steps out for shoes

Jeff Benson

Finally, there’s a use for those beat-up size 6’s that just won’t

make their way to, well, wherever old shoes end up.

Girl Scout troop leader Anita Keasey, her daughter Molly and eight

other members of Brownie Troop 119 collected more than 60 pairs of

shoes when they went door-to-door in the neighborhood around Andersen

Elementary School in Newport Beach.

On Sept. 30, the Andersen third-graders donated the shoes -- from

high tops to high heels -- to Corona del Mar High School track coach

Bill Sumner, who’s collecting them to benefit the Cynthia Holcomb

Magic Shoe Foundation.

Before Holcomb died a year ago today, she began the foundation in

hopes of donating 1,000 pairs of running shoes per year to needy kids

to start or continue their running careers, Anita Keasey said. Sumner

will donate the shoes to the needy through the Boys and Girls Clubs

of Orange County.

“We called him before he started the collection,” Anita Keasey

said. “He was so excited about doing it, and I wanted to make sure he

was prepared for such a large collection.”

Molly Keasey said she heard about the foundation while running for

Newport Beach’s Cal Coast Track Club. The club held a Bastille Day 5K

race July 10 in Holcomb’s honor.

“She died, and we were running the race for her, so kids could get

some shoes,” Molly said.

Anita Keasey said the local residents who donated the shoes were

given a month’s notice before the girls collected them. The girls

then washed and refurbished the shoes, and even though they tried the

shoes on for fun, they didn’t even think about keeping them for

themselves.

“It feels really good to me because there are kids in the Boys and

Girls Clubs’ families who don’t have money to buy shoes so they can

run and play sports,” Molly said.

The troop includes 7-year-olds Cayla Yasukochi and Charlotte

Valentine and 8-year-olds Molly Keasey, Sabrina Roy, Annie Reed,

Eliza Clark, Adrianna Cremo, Claudio Noto and MaKena Look.