You and Who’sday – One Rough Day Without Shoes; One Runway with a Cause

By Dan Gigante, President, You and Who

Today is a bit of a mish-mosh (is that a word?) of things I have on my mind.

Let me start first by talking about You and Who’s participation in TOMS‘ “One Day Without Shoes.” Last Tuesday, Katie and I went shoeless the whole day. You may not remember what Tuesday was like, so let me remind you: it was about 45 degrees and rained later in the day. You and Who currently operates out of space in the Tri-Main Center on Main Street in Buffalo. For those unfamiliar, it’s an enormous former warehouse that’s converted into office space for about 80 businesses. There are three large parking lots in the back of the building to accommodate these businesses. And last Tuesday, of all days, Katie and I both ended up having to park the farthest we’ve ever had to part to get to the building, crossing all three lots and dodging broken glass, amongst other undesirables. Forget the cold weather…forget the stares…the point was taken. Going shoeless for one day may not inconvenience some all that much, especially if you can work from the comfort of your own home or you live in a warm, beach climate. But in our case, we saw a glimmer of the difficulty some experience without shoes. Now, imagine if it were more than a day…fortunately for Katie and I, we can’t. But too many others are living that reality.

Having a day without shoes is a great thing TOMS can do to raise awareness about the plight of people without this basic human need. I was asked by ten people that day why I was shoeless. And in 2009, when I participated in my first “One Day Without Shoes,” I was asked by 20 people. If each of those people tell one person what they learned about TOMS and the impact they can have on giving someone in need a pair of shoes, I’ve done my job, and TOMS has done theirs ten times over. Plus, I’m not sure if it’s related, but it’s worth noting I ended up getting pretty sick the following day. Who knows if it really was going shoeless all day in 45 degree, damp weather, but it may have been. It makes me think, yet again, how much worse it could be if going shoeless was a daily plight I had to face.

Lastly, I want to mention this Saturday is Buffalo State College’s Runway 5.0. You and Who has teamed up with the fantastic Erin Habes and fellow sponsors New Era and vitaminwater to present a student t-shirt design contest. We will be judging some of the student looks that will be styled by New Era on Saturday, and will sell the winning design on YouAndWho.com. For each shirt sold, we will donate one meal to the Buffalo City Mission, and $1 to the Buffalo State Fashion Technology Department scholarship fund. Keep your eyes and ears open for more details! A big thanks to Erin Habes for asking us to be involved in such a great event – we can’t wait for Saturday. And be sure to come see us – tickets are still available!

Enjoy the rest of the week, good neighbors.