Students at Texas A&M University-Commerce spent their Thursday night painting shoes and listening to acoustic music all for the sake of raising awareness for a good cause.
On Nov. 20, a group of about 25 students gathered in the media room of Prairie Crossing Apartments for the first ever “Style Your Sole” event at A&M-Commerce.
This event is only the second to be hosted by TOMS’ campus representatives, junior sociology major Kerry Hendricks and sophomore art major Lindsey Durham. As campus reps, the pair has been charged with spreading TOMS’ “One for One” movement. The idea behind this movement is that, for every pair of shoes someone buys, TOMS will donate a pair to a child in need.
After the success of their first event in October, the duo held a “Shoe Drive” where they received shoe orders from almost 20 A&M-Commerce students and staff. During this drive, Hendricks and Durham encouraged students to buy white or natural canvas TOMS in anticipation of the “Style Your Sole” event.
This second event was intended for those who ordered shoes to come pick them up, and the reps furnished paint supplies for anybody wanting to paint their shoes. There was also live acoustic music from already established, yet still relatively unknown singer, Jake Germany.
“It was fun,” freshmen math major Douglas Boney said. “We actually got to paint and stuff. Even though I do not have any creative ability, we all still had fun.”
Although not many people in attendance were there to paint their shoes, the ones that were did so with excitement and laughter. One student brought friends with him to help him decorate his shoes.
Despite the entertainment of the evening, the campus reps kept focused on the true goal behind what they are doing.
“I think it went well,” Durham said. “We had few people paint their shoes and they looked great. In the end, though, it is good to know that 18 kids got new pairs of shoes.”
The musician for the event, Jake Germany, said he came to A&M-Commerce because he is an avid TOMS supporter. When he heard what the reps were doing on campus, he jumped at the opportunity to come play for the event.
“We want to give thanks to Jake Germany for coming out here and playing for us despite his busy schedule,” Hendricks said. “For him to take time to come out here and play for our event just really speaks a lot about the movement and how important it is.”
Both Durham and Hendricks said they are looking forward to future events that will take place sometime next semester. As for the rest of the semester, the pair will be taking more shoe orders for the holidays in the coming weeks.
For information on ordering a pair of TOMS or helping the movement, students can visit the “TOMS Shoes for Commerce” page on Facebook or send an email to commercetoms@gmail.com.