TOMS Campus Club celebrated its annual One Day Without Shoes tradition to raise awareness for the less fortunate.
They also are trying to educate students on campus about the TOMS movement and the impact it has on others.
Founder Rodrigo Patterson formed TOMS Campus Club at the end of spring 2013 after meeting a TOMS representative.
“I met a guy named David at ZiggyThon who worked for TOMS and he kind of gave me the idea of starting this organization and raising awareness for what TOMS is doing,” said Patterson.
One Day Without Shoes began at 10 a.m., and ended at 2 p.m., on April 23.
“We will be in the Union Oval playing games, hanging out and having fun,” said Alissa Barwinsk, president elect. “There is also an event called Barefoot Beatz where live acoustic music will be played and it was planned by the Student Event Planners Association, so I think it will be pretty cool.”
TOMS Campus Club also hosted an outdoor picnic that was sponsored by the Resident Student Association.
The club did raffles during the event and the money that was raised from the raffle tickets will go back to buying two pairs of TOMS to give away to two people who bought tickets.
“We’re giving away TOMS, so in that way we’re actually participating in the TOMS cause on One Day Without Shoes because two people are provided with free shoes,” Patterson said.
During the week the club hosted several other events.
On Monday, April 20, the club had its kickoff event, Leave Your Falcon Footprint, where students painted their feet and then placed them on T-shirts. Students also learned about the health issues of going barefoot while enjoying music and snacks.
On Wednesday, April 22, the organization painted the rock behind the Wolfe Center.
Barwinsk encourages students to participate because it will give students a better understanding of how to improve children’s lives.
“You don’t know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes, but just like you know these kids who do not have shoes,” she said. “People assume, shoes, everyone has them, but for some people that is not the case.”
For a full list of events hosted by the TOMS Campus Club this week, visit tomsbg.com.
