It's that time of year again...

One Day without Shoes is fast approaching! Mark it on your calendars! April 8, 2010 is the second annual ODWS.


TOMS is asking everyone to go barefoot for one day, one hour, one minute on this day to raise awareness of the large group of people on this planet (40% of the population) that go barefoot every day.

Be sure to check TOMS' ODWS website and on the TOMS at UGA blog for updates on the event.

I leave you with this: The facts.

Fact #1:

In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.

Fact #2:

Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.

Fact #3:

Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.

Fact #4:

In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.

Fact #5:

Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.

Dawgs for Haiti

On January 12, 2010, the worst natural disaster to affect the western hemisphere in decades struck some of our poorest and most vulnerable neighbors. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the small Caribbean nation of Haiti, just ten miles outside of the densely populated city of Port-au-Prince. More than 50,000 people may be dead and buried among the rubble.

Volunteer UGA and the University of Georgia are answering the call to action. Dawgs for Haiti is a bulldog nation-wide effort organizing to raise money to support the victims of this devastating earthquake.

$50,000 for 50,000. That is our pledge, and our proceeds will be devided evenly between the relief efforts of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. The bulldog nation has 34,000 students, 250,000 alumni, and countless more members around the world. Now is the time for us to come together in the spirit of Southern hospitality and give our support to the victims of this terrible disaster.

Please donate generously.

Hanson + HelloGoodbye Concert

For all of you who were unable to get to the Tabernacle on Oct. 28 to the Use Your Sole Tour, here is what you missed:

HelloGoodbye played a great set and get everyone excited. I loved the guy with the Ukulele! They played a few classics, like Bonnie Taylor Shakedown, Call N' Return and Dear Jaime... Sincerely Me. I hadn't listened to these guys in a few years and I was pleasantly surprised by how many of their songs I remembered. I had a lot of fun singing and jumping around to their pop-punk, nerdy dance music.

And then Hanson took the stage.... All the girls in the audience sighed, screamed and swooned at their dreamy long hair and grown up good looks. (No more 15 year olds in this band.) They played a mix of old hits, like MMMbop and Where's the Love, and new ballads written to inspire change and bring new meaning to music, like The Walk and a few new songs off their new Stand Up, Stand Up EP.

By the end of the night, all the girls had melted away into little puddles and had to be mopped up. The other bands joined Hanson on stage for an encore and everyone left feeling warm and happy.

I just want to say that I'm a little upset I missed the Halloween show, because the guys performed a cover of Thriller for the encore.

Friends of TOMS + America's Giving Challenge

Friends of TOMS has a chance to win $50,000 through its first-ever fundraising effort and we need your support! Think how many Shoe Drops that could support and how much nearer we could get to our goal of eradicating Podoconiosis.

Here's how it works: from now until November 6th, participating non-profits in America's Giving Challenge will compete for cash awards based on the number of donations made to their cause.

We're excited about this challenge, but we need your help. You can help by donating something - anything - even as little as $10. And just as important, you can help by telling your friends and spreading the word. We need your help EVERY DAY of this contest.

Let's all help Friends of TOMS win $50,000. We can do this!

To learn more visit:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/tomsshoes?v=app_17037175766

To donate to Friends of TOMS visit its Causes page:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/1661/14011797?m=e2d9b80d&_fb_fromhash=b49e5b72778bdad44f49b8dcd9572434

TOMS at UGA Fall Semester Calender

Hey TOMS at UGA fans! Here is a list of all the meetings and events for the upcoming semester:

Wednesday, October 21st:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268.

Thursday, October 22nd:
We will have a TOMS table at Tate Plaza to pass out fliers, a $5 promo code, and spread the word about TOMS! We will also be promoting our free documentary screening! We need volunteers to come in and help!

Monday, October 26th:
Free viewing of the For Tomorrow: The TOMS shoes story from 7-8pm in the Tate Theatre! It is a blue card event and the documentary is awesome and very moving. Recruit as many people as possible to come see it! If you are greek, talk to someone to see if people could get community service hours for coming to the screening instead of going to chapter.

The more people the better, so SPREAD THE WORD!

Wednesday, October 28th:
HANSON and HelloGoodbye Use Your Sole Tour at the Tabernacle in Atlanta! Get your tickets now and Take the Walk before the show!

No club meeting this Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 3rd:
The Kick-off Your Shoes concert at Tasty World! This should be a really fun event! So far, we have Laminated Cat, Allison Weiss, and Josh Perkins Experiment in Southern Hospitality. We are also working on one more band. The bands will begin arriving at Tasty World at 8pm and they start playing at 10pm. Start telling your friends to write it on their calendars.

Wednesday, November 4th:
TOMS Club meeting in the Journalism room 509.

Thursday, November 5th:
We will be participating in the eCampusWIDE Philanthropies Gone Wild event! During the day there will be a scavenger hunt that has a prize potential of $600 for our club. At night there is a party with many more opportunities to promote TOMS, as well as receive drink specials downtown!

If you haven't, please go to eCampusWIDE UGA's new social networking site and sign up with referral code TOMS to help support our club.

Wednesday, November 11th:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268.

Saturday, November 14th:
TOMS Tailgate Party! We have reserved a spot at Herty Field from 12-4 for the tailgate! We are going to have food, drinks, games, music, and a Style Your Sole Event. Not to mention some awesome TOMSatUGA Koozies!! Yay! It's going to be tons of fun!

Wednesday, November 18th:
TOMS Club meeting in the Journalism room 509.

Wednesday, December 2nd:
TOMS Club meeting in the SLC room 268. Last meeting of the semester, I'm thinking TOMS Christmas party?

Hope to see you guys at all the fun events for the semester!! Check the blog regularly for any additional updates!

- Rene'

TOMS Flag Football Tees

Team name: Tacklers for TOMS

This Saturday, TOMS at UGA will be participating in the AXO Flag Football Tournament. Today, while the boys practiced their plays, the girls made team jerseys.

Open Club Meeting This Wednesday

Hey guys,

All prospective members are welcome to join the newly created TOMS at UGA Campus Club for an open club meeting this Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 8 p.m. in the Journalism building, room 509.

We will be talking about TOMS, going over the events planned for the semester and welcome any ideas and help promoting the TOMS Club and its events.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Rene