One Day Without Shoes Raises Awareness About Children Without Shoes

I absolutely love shoes but today I am going barefoot. Why? Because, today I promised to go One Day Without Shoes in an effort to raise awareness about the millions of children who go without shoes every day of their lives.

TOMS.com organized the One Day Without Shoes event and is also donating one pair of shoes for every pair purchased to a child in need for the campaign called One for One. TOMS has asked that everyone go barefoot for a few minutes, a few hours or the whole day in an effort to raise awareness about the impact one pair of shoes can have on a child.

On the One Day Without Shoes website there are a list of startling facts about the children who go shoeless and the problems they face from going shoeless including cuts, scrapes, infection, and Podoconiosis (a disabling and disfiguring disease of the feet). Not to mention some children can't attend school when they are barefoot so their education is affected.

One Day Without Shoes events are being held all over the world. Two events are happening near my hometown, one in Wilkes-Barre, PA at the Public Square happening between 5pm and 6:30pm and one in Nazareth, PA called the Bare Feet Brigade at the YMCA on Main Street between 7:30pm and 9pm. Check the website to see if there is an event near your home town.

If you can't make it to an event and are unable to go barefoot for any reason there are some other things you can do to raise awareness and help make a difference.

Buy a Pair of TOMS shoes and remember for each pair purchased they will donate a pair to a child in need.

Visit Soles4Souls and make a donation. Every dollar given equals one pair of shoes donated to a child in need.

Visit your local Goodwill store or Salvation Army and donate all the shoes you need to get rid of. Kids grow out of shoes fast and there are adults who also need shoes.

Check out Shoes 2 Share International a grass roots, non-profit organization which collects and distributes shoes both domestically and internationally.

Make a difference today and go barefoot to help support One Day Without Shoes. By helping to raise awareness we can make sure children everywhere have a pair of shoes!