Baring their soles, students spend a day without shoes to support TOMS

Junior Emily Nicholls painted her toenails with gold glitter nail polish and marked her feet with “1 DAY SHOE LESS” and the TOMS Shoes logo on the back of her ankles.

Nicholls is one of the founders of the TOMS Shoes Club at IU and was promoting TOMS Shoes’ global event, “One Day Without Shoes.” TOMS Shoes is a company that donates one pair of shoes to children in developing countries for every pair of shoes sold.

Many IU students participated throughout the day, and a campus walk took place at 6 p.m. that brought together approximately 50 barefoot students to walk as a group.

Although Nicholls and her friend, sophomore Alaina Klene, went barefoot with style, they were helping to raise awareness that going barefoot is no glamorous feat.

Klene, treasurer of TOMS Shoes Club at IU, went on a mission trip to Nicaragua.
While she was there she said she realized the value of a pair of shoes.

While Klene was in Nicaragua, she gave out clothes and shoes and said the children were thankful and happy to be receiving a simple pair of shoes.

“A pair of shoes makes a difference in a child’s life,” Klene said. “The sad thing is, though, that a child’s foot does not stop growing.”

As Nicholls and Klene went on a walk around campus, they shared tips for walking barefoot and swapped stories.

Klene suggested that when walking in rocky areas such as the Arboretum, one should walk on the balls of his or her feet, while Nicholls said walking on the sides of her feet made it less painful.

Nicholls said she had to walk slower than normal because she was constantly looking down every time she took her next step.

Nicholls and Klene, on their approximately 50-minute walk around campus, had to overcome many obstacles: mud, pebbles, gravel, wood chips, litter, rocks and worms.

As Nicholls was strolling around campus, she wiped a worm off her foot but just shrugged it off.

“It’s OK, this morning in class my feet were full of worms,” Nicholls said. “I peeled three worms off my feet. I’m used to it.”

She said her morning walk around the Arboretum was much worse because it was her first time walking barefoot and the weather was even cooler.

“Hard tile never felt so good,” Nicholls said.

During the campus walk, the large group of barefoot participants caused looks of utter horror and inquisition.

A student across the street from the barefooted crowd yelled, “Why are you walking barefoot?”

“It’s to raise awareness about kids growing up without shoes,” said Erica Schori, senior and founder of TOMS Shoes Club at IU.

In developing countries, many children grow up barefoot, which puts them at a high risk for soil-transmitted diseases and cuts and sores.

During the campus walk, participants did not hesitate to look down to the ground because they were not in a hurry to get anywhere, but graduate student Amy Carol Wolff said children in developing nations do not have that privilege.

“As I was walking I thought about how if these kids need to go get food for their families they don’t have time to worry about what they are walking on,” Wolff said.

Although the walk was relaxed and participants were chatting, everyone was committed to the cause. Schori said the event was an “eye opener.”

But Nicholls said even though she walked barefoot all day, it was not comparable to people who must live barefoot from day to day.

“I will never really understand what it is like to have to live barefoot,” Nicholls said. “I won’t ever know what it’s like to walk in storms and not be able to go back to my place in order to get warm and put on a pair of shoes.”