On April 16th, 2013, myself along with thousands of people all over the world from Los Angeles to Italy to Korea and even right here in New Hampshire and everywhere in-between, will take the TOMS “One day without shoes” challenge and go about our daily lives barefoot to bring global awareness to children’s health and education.
Every day, kids all over the world walk around in harsh conditions in cities and town without any shoes on. The amount of impact that wearing no shoes has on children is unbelievable, it affects every part of their life from health to education to their self-esteem. The health risks of wearing no shoes include stunted growth, anemia, hookworms and other infectious diseases. Not only does this affect their health but it leads to kids less likely to attend school and lack confidence in themselves.
On a trip to Argentina, Blake Mycoskie witnessed extreme poverty and impacts of wearing no shoes first hand. In 2006 he started the shoe company called TOMS in Los Angeles and created a movement “one for one”. Every time someone buys a pair of TOMS shoes, oanother pair is given to a child in need. So far TOMS has given more than 1 million pairs of shoes to children in 40 countries including children here in the US. The donations of shoes have not only prevented threatening diseases but it has also improved the role of children in schools, their community and their future.
Every year in April, TOMS holds their “one day without shoes” challenge. Over 1,400 companies like AOL.com, and Microsoft, over 500 schools, and 25 countries joined in the march in the previous years. On April 16th, leave your shoes at the door, even if it’s just for a few hours put yourself in the prespective of someone else and see how it feels like to go a day without shoes.
If you want to learn more about the campaign go to:
http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com
and