How to participate in a “Day Without Shoes”

by Kari Patterson
Oregon Writer
Sacred Mundane

Today is an exciting day full of opportunity to make a difference in our world! Today TOMS shoes is sponsoring One Day Without Shoes, an awareness-raising event with participants all over the globe.  Click here to see their special informational video, then check back here for five fun ways for you and your family to participate in this phenomenal opportunity.

Five Fun Ways to Participate:

1. Go without shoes. Maybe it’s weird, but at the very least you’ll get a tiny taste of that it’s like to have a little less. Maybe it’ll be rainy, maybe it’ll be odd socially, but if you are able, I’d encourage you to go for it.  At least it will remind us to think about our brothers and sisters around the world who struggle every day to meet their basic needs of food, water, clothing and shelter.  So slip off those shoes and bare those beautiful toes!

2. Count your shoes. This isn’t about guilt it’s about gratitude. We are wise to take an objective look and see for certain that we have so much to be grateful for. For example, I do not think of myself as a shoe-lover. I didn’t think I had very many at all. But when I say count your shoes I mean every pair, not just in your closet, but in the garage, in your out-of-season rubbermaid bins, the ones tossed in the corner or the dusty ones you never wear. Every pair–count them. I did this and was shocked:

24 pairs.

Really? I really have twenty-four pairs of shoes?  How about you?

3. Give $1 for every pair you own to shoe or clothe those in need. There are hundreds of reputable organizations that are working tirelessly to distribute to those in need.  Be sure to research the organization to be sure they are reputable and handle funds with integrity. Need ideas?  World Vision has a great program here that multiplies your gift ELEVEN times over!  That means if you have 24 pair of shoes you just give $24 but those in need receive $264 worth of shoes and clothing. That’s a great investment! (LINK: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/eappeal.nsf/egiftgc_525Clothing?Open%3FOpen&section=10367&item=1445818 )

4. Share those shoes. Shocked by that number but things are tight? If your shoe-number is in the double-digits but you cannot manage to give money this month, grab a few pairs of those shoes and deliver them to your Salvation Army or an organization like Human Solutions that helps low-income families in the area.

5. Leave a Comment. Want to go the extra mile? IF you count your shoes and make some sort of donation, either with money or with shoes, come visit me here and leave a comment with the number of shoes that you counted and I will give an additional $10 per comment to World Vision to be multiplied by eleven and given to those in need.  We could very easily raise thousands of dollars today to help the beautiful people in need around our world.  (LINK:  http://www.youtube.com/embed/BitShRujoeA)

And with that, I hope your day is beautifully bare and full of the joy of generosity.