Hi VXC community!  My name is Kai McCullough, and I’m a three year VXC varsity runner and incoming junior. Over the past year or so I’ve been working on starting a non-profit, Trainers For Teens, to provide new shoes to teen runners that need them. Some of you have already reached out to learn more and have offered your support, and I’m so grateful! 

That support has encouraged me to share my mission with the rest of you, as I realized what a great opportunity this is for our entire VXC community to come together to help young runners in need! I’m currently committed to providing shoes for a high school cross country team here in Austin, and 90% of the students at that school are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Their coach shared with me that her students do not have the shoes they need to train and compete, and they are in great need of new shoes to run in. Running with a new and properly fitting pair of shoes is something every teen runner deserves, and I want to share how both VXC parents and VXC athletes can help!

Every pair of trainers that we give includes a hand written and decorated card to encourage the recipient on their running journey. During PIT, your VXC athletes will have the opportunity to help by writing and decorating one of these cards for the students that will be receiving shoes! An example of this is on the Trainers for Teens instagram page, so check it out! Parents, if you feel led to help, your donations will enable us to provide these teens with a brand new pair of shoes to go along with the cards that our VXC team members will be writing! 100% of all money donated goes directly to new shoes for these young athletes, and because Trainers for Teens is part of the Central Texas Community Foundation, a registered 501©3, all donations are fully tax deductible! Both parents and athletes can also help by following and sharing Trainers for Teens on Instagram and facebook. Your follow will allow us to grow our social media presence, so that we can better negotiate the cost of the shoes when partnering with local shoe stores. This will help stretch all donations even further and enable us to provide more shoes to the teens that need them! If you would like to learn more, or see an example of the card VXC athletes will be decorating, below is the the link to the Trainers For Teens socials and donation page. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you would like more information on how to help. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your consideration, help, and support!

Kai McCullough- VXC ‘26

Founder Trainers for Teens

To Donate: https://ctxcf.networkforgood.com/projects/231061-trainers-for-teens 

Contact us at: trainersforteens@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: Trainers for Teens (@trainersforteens)

Follow us on Facebook: Facebook – Trainers for Teens