TOMS provides students chance to give back

Campus representatives for TOMS Shoes held their first event this week in The Club to help raise awareness for the work they do for children in need.

On Wednesday Oct. 28th, two campus representatives for TOMS Shoes spread word about the organization's "One for One" movement. According to the TOMS website, the "One for One" movement is about "using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good." The way they do this is, for every pair of shoes that somebody buys, TOMS donates one pair of shoes to a child in need.

The event started with a brief introduction from the two TOMS campus representatives, junior Sociology major Kerry Hendricks and sophomore art major Lindsey Durham. After thanking everyone for attending, Hendricks and Durham, explained this first meeting was intended simply to see who is interested in participating in the movement.

They then showed a short video about the TOMS Shoe Drop Tours, where Blake Mycoskie, spokesperson for TOMS, and others go to countries to give shoes to children in need.

"I think the turnout was pretty good," Hendricks said. "We had 30 or 40 people tonight just for the video itself, which is great."

The pair had been planning this event for the past month or so.

"We did a lot of things to get the word out," Durham said. "We created a Facebook group called 'TOMS Shoes for Commerce.' We also talked to a lot of the fraternities and sororities on campus to see if they could mention it at their chapter meetings."

Both Hendricks and Durham posted fliers around campus advertising the event.

While some of the students in attendance did not know much about the "One for One" movement, the majority were, to some degree, already aware of the work TOMS is doing.

Once the video was over, Durham and Hendricks asked anybody interested in the TOMS movement to come talk to them about getting involved by buying shoes or simply filling out an information sheet, and the pair were immediately surrounded by a large portion of the event's attendees.

"I think this is a good cause," junior chemistry major, Nate Hanson said. "I think it is good that we have students that are taking the initiative and doing this by themselves."

There will be another TOMS event on Thursday Nov. 19. For more information, students can visit the "TOMS Shoes for Commerce!" page on Facebook. Students can also contact Kerry Hendricks at 903-466-3195 or Lindsey Durham, 469-226-6461.