I’m sending my kids to school without shoes today (by their choice). Yes, we live in the Northwest, yes, our school usually requires shoes but…..my daughters are to participating in, “One day without Shoes.”

Tom Shoes is promoting and event across the nation, and they are inviting people to go barefoot and experience, first hand, a life without shoes. They are trying to raise awareness of how many children live without shoes.

You all know my heart strings toward children who live without shoes.  I have seen bare feet all over the world in places where there is open sewage and garbage ,and it breaks my heart.  Isabel, my daughter, started her own little program called “Shoes for Kids,”  and before my last trip to Kenya, she  collected money for 60 pairs of shoes. She wants to keep going with “Shoes for Kids”, but we also want to support a great business that is giving a pair of shoes away for each pair purchased.  Tom Shoes is doing a good job putting some kids into a pair of shoes. The shoes are sold at Nordstrom and Whole Foods, on-line etc. My daughter has a pair of TOM shoes and loves them.

So it’s the day to go barefoot…..Who will join me? Woohoo! Hey parents, it’s a great day to let your kids go for a barefoot walk and then talk about those in need around the world.  If you want to help get kids in shoes, I have several ideas.

1. Buy a pair of TOM shoes.  If you don’t need shoes….then…
2. You can donate to Isabel’s cause, “Shoes for Kids”  by sending us a new pair of shoes for a child, or send $10 to Isabel and she will buy a pair for a child in Guatemala (my next trip). If you are interested let me know and I will send you our church address.
3. Sponsor a child with Compassion and you will be able to help a child not only get shoes, but an entire school uniform, nutrition, health care, spiritual encouragement, and a whole lot more.

Here is something interesting.

If the world were a village with 100 people living in it, here is how things would look…..

1 person would have AIDs

3 people would be slaves

14 people would not know how to read and write

20 people would be malnourished

23 people would not have adequate drinking water

25 people would not have shelter

22 people would not have electricity

40 would have no shoes

43 would live on less than $2 a day

58 would have parasites.