Barefoot Day was founded by the Soles4Souls organization after the 2004 tsunami.

The purpose of Barefoot Day

Its purpose is to support people affected by natural disasters. The charity initiative found support from people in different parts of the world, so the event became an annual event. Since 2005, more than 40 million pairs of shoes have been collected and given to children and adults from low-income families.

Donating well-preserved shoes has several advantages at once:

• Provides for the needs of socially vulnerable people. In many countries, it is difficult to find shoes that protect the feet in bad weather. Moreover, it is expensive, so children and adults from poor families can wear shoes only on special occasions.
• Donating well-preserved shoes prevents them from ending up in landfills, the number of which is already critical for our planet.
• This step can become decisive in the fate of a person whose daily income is about 1.25 US dollars. The number of such inhabitants of the planet reaches 1.2 billion. Because of the meager salary, they are forced to do without basic necessities, such as shoes. Walking barefoot can cause many problems, especially in underdeveloped countries.

Benefits of walking barefoot

Temporary refusal of shoes has a positive effect on health.

• Walking barefoot on grass or sand strengthens the feet.
• It also improves understanding of the position of one’s own body (proprioception), which is especially important for professional dancers.