BONAVISTA, N.L. — Peggy Russell's effort started with a dream.
The Bonavista woman told The Packet the dream made her think about her younger years, as well as the importance of giving back.
“It was a dream that became reality for me,” said Russell.
Growing up, she said, it was common to have just one pair of shoes that were used until they wore out.
“I thought, ‘How many women – counting myself at this time in my life – have shoes in the closet that they don’t wear?’”
Russell says her initiative to start providing shoes for anyone who needed them started then, on June 9, 2015.
She’s set up in a room in the public building in Bonavista, provided by the Bonavista Townscape Foundation, and opens it to the public with all kinds of donated shoes.
She’s received donations from local residents, churches, community groups, and even from retailers who have heard of her project.
It’s common for her to arrive to the room on Tuesday, the day she opens, and find shoes left for donation.
“I call it my ministry,” said Russell. “It’s wonderful.”
She gets plenty of help from others in the community, including Joyce Callahan, Millie Little and Patricia Oliver, who fill in for Russell when she can’t be there.
Over the past four years, she’s given away more than 3,000 pairs of shoes. The most pairs she’s given away in one day was 57.
She sent 300 pairs to Africa with Sandra Durdle who made a mission trip to the continent.
The initiative has grown significantly since her first dreamed thoughts years ago.
Russell said such growth was unexpected.
“It’s unreal.”
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Twitter: @jejparsons
