While studying abroad in Argentina in fall 2008, Brittney Elliott noticed a slipper-like style of shoes for sale on almost every street corner. It was not until she came home that she realized a similar style had gained popularity in America.

“I saw someone wearing these shoes and I thought, “Hey, I saw those everywhere in Argentina.’ So I asked and they told me they were called TOMS,” said Elliott, senior intercultural and international communications major.

After learning more about TOMS, Elliott applied for an internship with the company. Although she did not get the position, she is now the TOMS Campus Representative of Sacramento State.

On Monday, Elliott and the TOMS club teamed together with Holly Stewart and the Human Resource Management Association to put on a Style Your Sole event in the University Union. Stewart, senior business major, is the vice president of events for the Human Resource Management Association.

“The rest of HRMA (Human Resource Management Association) is really just here as back up support. It was mostly Holly who organized this,” said senior human resources major Lauren Tillotson, president of the Human Resource Management Association.

The main goal of the event was to inform people about the TOMS movement &- selling shoes was just a bonus, Stewart said.

TOMS, created by Blake Mycoskie in 2006, is a shoe company that uses the “One for One” business model, meaning for every pair of shoes purchased, a new pair is donated to a child in need.

Mycoskie came up with this idea after visiting Argentina and seeing how many children were forced to wander around barefoot, according to the TOMS website.

The company urges everyone to join the movement and help spread the message &- one way the company suggests spreading the movement is by hosting a Style Your Soles event.

“A Style Your Sole party is people coming together to express themselves and help children in need by customizing their own blank, canvas TOMS,” according to the TOMS website. “Whether you are styling TOMS for a baby shower, with your sorority, with your youth group or for an event in your community, a Style Your Sole event is all about creativity. Participants are only limited by their imaginations, and no two SYS (Style Your Sole) events are the same.”

While many people bring their own TOMS to Style Your Sole parties, Stewart said, the clubs worked with Roseville-based Heritage Footwear and Apparel to set up both a pre-sale option as well as shoes available for purchase the day of the event. Pre-sale shoes were sold for $38 while on-site shoes were sold for $44 plus tax.

A copy of the TOMS documentary signed by Mycoskie was awarded to senior biology major Minal Patel for purchasing the most pairs of shoes through the pre-sale. Patel purchased 10 pairs of shoes for herself and her friends.

Elliott and Stewart also worked to bring local artists and DJs to their event. Local artists included Ryan Pappas, who has done several Style Your Sole events in the past with Heritage, and local boutiques like Sugar Shack.

“I’ve been to Africa and seen children and families walking miles without shoes,” Pappas said. “A lot of people don’t even realize that TOMS donates a pair for every pair purchased.”

Pappas mentioned that while other companies make different donations around the world, TOMS is the first to use the “One for One” business model.

Pappas accepted donations for helping participants style their soles. The money he made was donated to “Movember” &- an annual monthlong event that raises prostate cancer awareness.

Several participants and even club members had not known about TOMS before this event.

“This is my first pair of TOMS. It’s a wonderful movement &- I love that something like this exists,” said junior business major Amy Tillotson, a local artist.

Tillotson heard about the event from her older sister, Lauren, the president of Human Resource Management Association.

Another participant, senior English major Erin Murphy, also purchased her first pair of TOMS at Monday’s event.

“I had heard about TOMS before, but this is my first pair,” Murphy said. “At first I thought it was a pretty Western idea to assume everyone needs to wear shoes, but then I thought about how walking barefoot can actually be dangerous. Children have to walk miles to school on roads that can lead to diseases.”

Murphy used sharpies and paints to design her TOMS like peacocks.

“I’m definitely going to wear these but only in good weather because of all the sharpies,” she said.

Though the event had a lower turnout then Elliott and Stewart had hoped for, they still managed to sell 60 pairs of shoes through the pre-sale and about 50 the day of the event.

With a pair being donated with every pair purchased, this means that about 110 children will be provided with shoes after just one four-hour event.

Stewart plans to hold another Style Your Sole party in spring 2011, along with a different TOMS event &- one day without shoes. In this event, participants around the world go barefoot for a day as a way of raising awareness about children in need and the dangers faced when living without shoes, according to the TOMS website. This event is scheduled for April 5.

“Working with Brittney and TOMS has made me realize how much I like involving myself in this stuff,” Stewart said. “I could work in charity for a long time.”

Leidhra Johnson can be reached at [email protected]