By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews.com
McKINNEY — On Saturday morning, parents, teachers, and neighbors will gather at Dr. Glenn Mitchell Park for the Barefoot Mother Run, an event organized to raise awareness about school shootings and to call for community action to keep children safe. The run begins at 9 a.m. and is open to the public.
Inspired by a Powerful Image
The event’s name and symbolism come from a widely shared photograph taken during the August 27, 2025, shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. The image showed a mother sprinting barefoot, shoes in hand, driven only by the desperate need to know her child was safe.
For Kate Tucker, a McKinney teacher and one of the organizers, the photo was impossible to shake.
“It was hard to look at without immediately crying,” Tucker said. “You just know that mother was thinking, ‘Please not my baby.’ That image was gut-wrenching, and it made us want to do something right away.”
Her co-organizer, Hannah Slott, RN, BSN, agreed.
“Every mother could see and feel herself in that photo,” Slott said. “We are tired of watching the horror of these shootings and feeling helpless. It’s time to act, even in small ways.”
Why Run Barefoot?
Participants will run without shoes as a symbol of urgency and vulnerability. For the organizers, it reflects the raw emotion of parents who feel powerless but refuse to give up.
“It symbolizes how urgent this situation is — no one should ever have to run toward a school hoping their child is alive,” Tucker explained.
Slott added:
“The barefoot run to me stands for not giving up. Even if you shred your feet, fight obstacles, or face fear, we will not stop. We must protect our children at all costs.”
From Idea to Action
The event came together quickly. According to Tucker, she and Slott set the date just one week after deciding to move forward.
“We didn’t want to wait because it just feels that urgent,” Tucker said. “We knew we had to act now.”
Though small in scale, both women see the event as a way to start conversations and inspire others.
“We hope this makes people think,” Slott said. “I want neighbors to stop feeling stuck or numb. These are our children — we cannot just move on after every tragedy.”
Benefiting Sandy Hook Promise
Proceeds from the run will go to Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit founded by parents who lost children in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.
Slott said the choice was deliberate:
“They’ve been working for years to address school gun violence from multiple angles — safety training, mental health access, awareness campaigns, and yes, reform efforts. They don’t divide the issue into one side versus another. They work with all possible resources to protect children.”
For Tucker, the group’s mission also connects to her own teaching experience.
“I was teaching first grade when Sandy Hook happened. I’ll never forget that day,” she said. “Looking at my own students, it was devastating. And now, as a mom with kids in school, the fear is even greater. We should not still be living this way.”
She recalled her daughter coming home from a kindergarten lockdown drill last year and repeating the phrase, “Lock, Lights, Out of Sight,” to the family dog.
“My heart broke,” Tucker said. “We shouldn’t have to live like this. It should have stopped with Sandy Hook, but it hasn’t.”
Hopes for McKinney and Beyond
Though the Barefoot Mother Run is only a single morning event, its organizers hope it sparks something larger.
“It’s definitely a small movement, but the hope is to create ripples,” Tucker said. “We need more healthy conversation. We need more action. Our kids deserve it.”
Slott pointed to longer-term goals:
“I hope this run connects people to the bigger movement. Next year, there will be the Not One More March in Washington, D.C., on Mother’s Day 2026. We want to start mobilizing locally now, so families here feel they can be part of that.”
A Message to the Community
Both organizers stress that the event is not about politics — it’s about protecting children and supporting one another as a community.
“When people think, ‘Nothing will change’ or ‘I can’t do anything,’ that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Slott said. “The only way change happens is if we refuse to stop. It’s our responsibility, and we can do it together.”
Tucker added:
“As a teacher, I would do anything to keep your baby safe. But I need the community to care about me and my students the same way. We need to take care of one another. Our kids deserve safety and innocence.”
Event Details
Barefoot Mother Run
📍 Dr. Glenn Mitchell Park, McKinney, TX 75069
📅 Saturday, September 6, 2025 — 9:00 a.m.
Proceeds benefit Sandy Hook Promise
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