raise awareness about the plight of children in developing nations who contract
preventable diseases because they lack shoes.
The One Day Without Shoes event is organized by TOMS Shoes, a company founded by Christian
businessman Blake Mycoskie that gives away a pair of shoes for every pair sold.
More than 1,400 events are being held nationwide, with community groups,
colleges and individuals spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter.
Celebrities such as the Jonas Brothers, singer Jordin
Sparks, and actors Kristen Bell, Ed Begley Jr. and Heather Graham also planned
to go without shoes Thursday and encouraged others to do the same.
“A shoe company asking people to go barefoot? I know
it’s odd, but we are so excited for people to once again join us in One Day
Without Shoes,” said Mycoskie, according to Vogue magazine.
“We ask people to go the day, part of the day, or even just a few minutes,
barefoot, to experience what millions of children endure every day. Awareness
and empathy are the catalysts of change.”
In rural areas where people walk through volcanic soil, such
as in Ethiopia, going barefoot can lead to podoconiosis, a preventable but disfiguring
illness that causes swelling and ulcers in the feet and lower legs.
TOMS Shoes hosted its second One Day Without Shoes last
year, using the Assemblies of God-affiliated Southeastern University in
Lakeland, Fla., as a pilot school for organizing campus-based support for the
campaign.
Mycoskie, who won third place in The Amazing Race II in
2002, said the idea for TOMS came after he befriended the children of an
Argentine village and found that they lacked shoes. He thought his tech company
would help pay for the shoe venture, but a newspaper article generated
so much business he decided to sell the tech company and focus exclusively on
TOMS, which refers to “creating a better tomorrow.”
Since it launched in 2006, the Los Angeles-based
company has donated 400,000 shoes to needy children worldwide.
