One Day Without Shoes

Every April for the past 4 years TOMS shoes has hosted a worldwide event called "One Day Without Shoes".  The idea of it is for people to see you not wearing shoes and ask, "Why don't you have shoes?".  Then I get to reply with the whole it's to raise awareness about kids in other countries without shoes and basically give the TOMS sales pitch.  It's actually pretty ingenious because it works.  Not everyone is going to go buy a pair of them but at least a few will, and the ones that don't will tell their friends.  It's just word of mouth.

For those of you who don't know what TOMS is all about, here's a brief synopsis.  First off, they are a shoes company.  Their mission is pretty much to give shoes to every child that doesn't have a pair.  Seeing as that is somewhat of a large endeavor to take on, they have a pretty smart plan.  They make shoes out of canvas and affordable materials and for every pair that I buy, they give a pair to a kid in another country that doesn't have shoes.  Although there are of course some skeptics out there, it is an amazing idea.  They call it "One for One".  I love the concept.  It's a great and smart way to help people.  Not to mention they are becoming a fashion statement.

My friend, who everyone should be following on here, painted these canvas TOMS and they're basically my favorite things ever! People are always staring and asking questions and the great thing about that is that for every person that asks, thats another person that may buy a pair.  I'm not saying that you should just go buy a pair because I said so, not that that wouldn't be cool.  I'm just kind of trying to give another way to help people.  Since that's my life goal and all I figure I may as well get my ideas out in the open.
And in case you were wondering, walking around all day without shoes isn't fun.  Concrete hurts, wind is cold, and rocks are REALLY sharp!  It's just a good reminder that not everyone has it as good as we do.  Whether it be the kid in Ethiopia that doesn't have shoes or the veteran in American that makes it around without legs, someone is always worse off than you are.  I do realize that everyone always says it, but until you walk around a day without shoes, or don't eat for a day, or don't use any electronic devices for a day (which I really want to do) you don't really get it.  I'm not sure that I really get it yet.  But I'm trying.  Just remember to be happy with what you have, but never quit hoping for better.

Before I sign off, I plugged 3 sites pretty hard and feel like they need some recognition.

1. TOMS Shoes- http://www.toms.com/
2. One Day Without Shoes (technically also TOMS, but the pic is from there)- http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/
3. Niana the fantastic artist- http://kayakhakunamatata.blogspot.com/