Barefoot Kris Allen helps raise awareness for Rwanda
Posted: April 8, 2010 – 5:48pm; LOG CABIN, By Courtney Spradlin
2009 American Idol, Kris Allen, visited his Alma matter Thursday to lead a group of students on a Barefoot Walk across the University of Central Arkansas campus.
According to Clay Parker, a volunteer for special projects for Bridge2Rwanda, the walk was organized to bring awareness to Rwanda’s shoeless population and their plight with a disease called Podoconiosis, a condition of the feet caused by toxins in volcanic soil.
“The solution is simple, shoes. Podo is preventable by wearing shoes,” Parker said. “(Bridge2Rwanda) supports the TOMS business model of buying one and giving one pair of shoes.”
TOMS shoes donates one pair of shoes to a child each time a pair is purchased and has provided more than 600,000 pairs of shoes to children since the company began in 2006.
Dale Dawson, CEO of Bridge2Rwanda, said he and Parker were considering organizations to introduce to Rwanda when TOMS was mentioned. “We got TOMS, Kris and Katie and began a long term partnership between TOMS, Kris Allen and Bridge2Rwanda,” Dawson said.
The group returned three days ago from a “shoe drop” in Rwanda.
Jessica Shortall, director of giving for TOMS, said Thursday was “our chance to stand in solidarity with children around the world who don’t have shoes. There are thousands of events around the world, and hundreds of thousands participating in the one day without shoes event.”
A barefoot Alan Meadors, president of UCA, said the event was the “epitome of what we want our students to be a part of.”
Many students, like Hannah Moran, freshman, went the entire day without shoes.
“It helps us get the idea of what it’s like. In a sense we are in their shoes by not wearing any,” Moran said.
Hundreds of students, TOMS and Bridge2Rwanda representatives joined Allen on a barefoot walk around UCA’s campus, ending at the Reynold’s Performance Hall, where Allen performed and reported on his recent trip to Rwanda, and his support of TOMS and Bridge2Rwanda’s efforts to offer aid in the stabilization the country.
(Staff writer Courtney Spradlin can be reached by e-mail at courtney.spradlin@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
Kris Allen Leads Barefoot Walk
Barefoot Kris Allen helps raise awareness for Rwanda
Posted: April 8, 2010 – 5:48pm; LOG CABIN, By Courtney Spradlin
According to Clay Parker, a volunteer for special projects for Bridge2Rwanda, the walk was organized to bring awareness to Rwanda’s shoeless population and their plight with a disease called Podoconiosis, a condition of the feet caused by toxins in volcanic soil.
“The solution is simple, shoes. Podo is preventable by wearing shoes,” Parker said. “(Bridge2Rwanda) supports the TOMS business model of buying one and giving one pair of shoes.”
TOMS shoes donates one pair of shoes to a child each time a pair is purchased and has provided more than 600,000 pairs of shoes to children since the company began in 2006.
Dale Dawson, CEO of Bridge2Rwanda, said he and Parker were considering organizations to introduce to Rwanda when TOMS was mentioned. “We got TOMS, Kris and Katie and began a long term partnership between TOMS, Kris Allen and Bridge2Rwanda,” Dawson said.
The group returned three days ago from a “shoe drop” in Rwanda.
Jessica Shortall, director of giving for TOMS, said Thursday was “our chance to stand in solidarity with children around the world who don’t have shoes. There are thousands of events around the world, and hundreds of thousands participating in the one day without shoes event.”
A barefoot Alan Meadors, president of UCA, said the event was the “epitome of what we want our students to be a part of.”
Many students, like Hannah Moran, freshman, went the entire day without shoes.
“It helps us get the idea of what it’s like. In a sense we are in their shoes by not wearing any,” Moran said.
Hundreds of students, TOMS and Bridge2Rwanda representatives joined Allen on a barefoot walk around UCA’s campus, ending at the Reynold’s Performance Hall, where Allen performed and reported on his recent trip to Rwanda, and his support of TOMS and Bridge2Rwanda’s efforts to offer aid in the stabilization the country.
(Staff writer Courtney Spradlin can be reached by e-mail at courtney.spradlin@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)