In many developing countries, children must walk for miles to get medical help, for clean water and to go to school. In some countries, if a child cannot afford shoes, they are not allowed to go to school.
Walking barefoot increases the risk of infection and disease. TOMS Shoes works to put shoes on these shoeless children. For every pair of TOMS shoes that are purchased the company gives a pair to a child in need, one for one. On April 5 the Mizzou men’s and women’s lacrosse teams participated in One Day Without Shoes — a day to promote awareness of children who go barefoot everyday.
Both teams promoted awareness by practicing barefoot. The motto for the day was “we played barefoot, so they won’t have to.” Everyone enjoyed practicing barefoot, especially with the nice weather.
“We got to use God’s built-in cleats—toes,” said Clayton Cruthirds.
Nick Schatteman added, “Going barefoot was awesome, and it was for a good cause. We had the luxury of playing on artificial turf, so we didn’t have to worry about rocks or dirt. I couldn’t imagine playing barefoot everyday like many kids do.”
Zach Nisson said “I never thought about how necessary shoes are. Millions of kids have to go without shoes everyday, I’m glad we could help bring awareness to that.”
