One Day Without Shoes

Yesterday, Tuesday April 5th, our C&W Office participated in the global event One Day Without Shoes created by TOMS Shoes.  For those that do not know about TOMS, they are/were a shoe company; but according to their new press releases they are now referring to themselves as a "One for One" company.  The idea will stay the same, but I assume they will begin offering new products.  Regardless, One Day Without Shoes was a day created to share the idea that created their company and now shapes the lives of many young children around the world.  That idea is "One for One".  At TOMS, if you purchase a pair of shoes (or any piece of merchandise) a brand new pair of shoes is given to a child in need.  As a matter of fact, that is their tag line.  "With every pair you purchase TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.  One for One."  What a creative and inventive way to help those in need.

This all brings us to our purpose on April 5th.  The entire purpose of One Day Without Shoes is what it says...to go one day without shoes.  That means living, walking, working, etc.  Everything you would normally do, you just do without shoes. 
But why?  What does it help to go without shoes for a day?  What is the point?

The point is awareness.  One Day Without Shoes is a day that doesn't ask anything of anyone except to be a part of something greater than ourselves.  No one is required to purchase anything.  No one is required to sacrifice their stretched-too-thin-as-it-is time.  We are only asked to do something a little different.  A little off-kilter?  Sure.  But isn't that the point?  People don't usually go about their everyday activities without shoes.  So when someone walks barefoot through Washington, DC - or even into their office building - people notice.  It raises curiosity, which leads to conversation, which creates awareness, which cultivates change.  But it also allows us the chance to experience a fragment of how these children live everyday.  And that, in a nutshell, is the entire purpose.

So C&W decided to participate.  And we decided to have fun with it!  The office was decorated with footprints all the way from the lobby to the conference room, down the hallway, and even up some filing cabinets.

We also had a "Shoe Daycare" where people that wanted to participate could place their shoes for the day and we would take care of them. 

Our conference room doors were transformed into our One Day Without Shoes Fact Wall.  It displayed facts about children in developing countries that have to live without shoes.

Here are a few of those facts:

• In may developing countries, children must walk without shoes for miles to school, clean water, and medical help.
• Hundreds of millions of children are at risk of injury, infection, and soil-transmitted diseases that most can't afford to prevent and treat.
• Children who are healthy are more likely to be successful students, and access to education is a critical determinant of long-term success.
• Healthy, educated children have a better chance of improving the future of their entire community.

Moving past the office decorations, let's get to the people.  We had about 12 people from the office participate by not wearing shoes throughout their workday.  We had a few others participate in their own ways (they know who they are).  But the really neat thing that happened was when we had pictures coming in from our C&W employees NOT at the office...all without shoes!
Here are some pictures of the C&W Office participants (Kelley, Dawn, Cheryl, Lori, Andrea Crawford, Genevieve, Andrea Nottingham, George, Janine, Hulda, Vicki, and Christin):

And here are our out-of-office employees:
Deirdre Holliday while she was at her HR Conference...

Lynn of the Tiburon Laundry (Royale Parc Suites in Kissimmee, FL)...

And Mark from his home office in FL...

And even on top of that, we had a few C&W family members join in on the fun.  Janine Davy's daughter, Anna had her students participate in their classroom, with their own Shoe Daycare.

WOW!!!
The participation we had in this effort was wonderful, and to be honest, a little overwhelming.  We had no idea going into this that so many people would be willing to step out of their comfort zone to get the conversation started to create awareness for the needs of others.  What an uplifting day!  It truly, truly was.

But a day later, once the pictures have been taken, and the decorations removed, the conversation still has to continue.  If we miss that key factor, we miss it all.  I genuinely felt a spirit of goodwill yesterday and I hope that we can continue that as the days pass and we put our shoes back on.  Now that we know the needs, let's keep spreading the curiosity to others so they can start talking too!