Join us in Supporting
Angelina Jordan in Her Mission

Ideas for Your Barefoot Hour

 

One of the biggest challenges of this Challenge may be figuring out what you want to do in that hour. We have listed three possibilities for you plus donating. Here are some pathways and suggestions to carry each out.

 

Remember, while we will spread the word about Angelina, our main goals are to help those in need and to build empathy by experiencing what it is like to live without shoes.

 

1. Do volunteer work that supports children, or others in need, while barefoot.

 

Consider sharing the Princess in Ruins story with other volunteers while doing your work.

 

I'm sure you have heard the saying, "We don't need to reinvent the wheel." Fortunately, we already have some great examples of this first approach as developed by one of our recommended charities, Soles4Souls. They have led their own barefoot challenge in past years, as follows:

A. Hold your own shoe drive.
Yes, this will go far beyond the 1 hour of barefoot time. But it just might be something that will be very fulfilling for you because it serves children and others in need. Pick and choose from, or be inspired by, the ideas here:
https://soles4souls.org/shoe-drive/

B. Volunteer for an existing entity – Soles4Souls - that matches up with some of the goals of this Challenge:
https://soles4souls.org/volunteer/

C. If you love to run or walk, do this a day or two or even a week before June 1st. It likely wouldn't be wise to run barefoot. But you could be barefoot before and after your run or walk.
https://soles4souls.org/therace4everykid/

D.  Start a Fundraiser -- even if this is something you launch from your keyboard, do it barefoot with foot tattoos and video yourself with your feet up on your desk as you sign up and go through the launch process.

You can dedicate the fundraiser to Princess as inspired by Angelina Jordan if you wish.
https://charity.pledgeit.org/soles4souls

E. Use Google and people in the know to find volunteer work in your community.
https://www.justserve.org/
Do a Google search for: how to find volunteer work in my community.

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****For any of the above activities, take (or have someone else take) a photo of your tattooed feet, and some video of yourself doing the activity. Consider the videos and/or photos as part of the Challenge.****

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2. Go out in public in bare feet where there are many people.

 

Strike up discussions with those people you meet and hand them a flyer/card about this project, and Angelina. The flyer/card will be provided to you.

This one will take a certain personality for it to work for you. If you are a people person, go for it!

Here is one way to approach this one, including using the tattoos and handouts supplied.

Step 1. Decide on the best location. Choose one where:

a. There will be plenty of people who won't necessarily mind stopping for a conversation. 
b. Where you will be allowed to be barefoot.
c. Where you won't be standing on smoking hot cement.

Location Ideas (the first two are the best - if there is a nearby beach): 
- Popular parks 
- Beaches
- Malls and shopping areas (if bare feet are allowed)

- Other popular spots in your area

Step 2: Decide how you will approach people

 

a. Your opening is up to you depending on the situation. But after connecting with the person, you could refer to your bare feet and the tattoos on them and ask them if you could tell them a heart-warming story about the tattoos. (Let them know they are temp tattoos for today).

b. Here is a story that is about as short as we could get it for your use, if you want to use it:
 

"6-Year-Old Norwegian Angelina Jordan stopped in front of a cold shoeless little girl operating a set of bathroom scales, as Angelina’s mother watched nearby. Angelina was mesmerized by the little girl and stepped on the scales to be weighed. That's how the little girl made money -- from the tips of passing people who paused to be weighed on the busy Middle Eastern street.

Angelina and the barefoot girl connected deeply as they spoke. Angelina offered the homeless, orphan girl the warm ankle boots she wore. The girl, who Angelina called Princess, reluctantly accepted them. She said she wasn't a Princess living in a castle -- she lived in ruins.

They listened to and encouraged each other then shared their deepest dreams:

 

Angelina to sing for the whole world.

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Princess to become a doctor.

 

She wanted to heal people like her mother and little brother, who died from illnesses that they had no money to treat.

From that experience, Angelina did go on to sing for the whole world - - inspired by Princess to perform only in bare feet until all children in the world would have shoes. Angelina has helped raise millions of dollars toward that goal. 

And I am barefoot today to honor Princess' inspiration and Angelina's efforts.

We hope Princess is on her way to becoming a doctor, but we don't know. We do know there are millions of children worldwide like her that need our help . . .

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Angelina wrote a song named "Princess of Ruins" that she dedicated to Princess. Here is a QR code that you can follow to listen to it if you like."

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END STORY
 

The two tattoos and the images on the handouts depict the story. There are many aspects of this story that were not included to keep the story brief, keeping in mind a new person's likely short attention span.

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You may also want to bring along a portable music device and have Princess of Ruins playing softly in the background.

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****Take (or have someone else take) a photo or video of your tattooed feet, and some video of yourself meeting others.****

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3. Do a task, or a series of successive tasks, that you normally do, but do them barefoot.

 

They should be tasks that you normally would NOT do barefoot. But be careful not to do something potentially dangerous such as mowing your lawn barefoot.

Video yourself:
a. Taking off your shoes and applying tattoos
or
b. Taking off your shoes revealing applied tattoos
c. Doing your task(s)
d. **Important** After the hour is over, video yourself talking to the camera about what you have learned or what new compassion you have for the shoeless.

 

Then follow the instructions we will send you soon about how to send the video(s) to us. We plan to use them in a documentary about the Challenge.

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4. Donate to a charity of your choice

 

This option is suggested only if you can’t do any of the above options or would definitely prefer not to. Here is a short list of suggested charities to support (all highly rated by Charity Navigator) -- or choose your own:

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SOLES4SOULS -- Turning shoes and clothing into opportunity

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DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY (Part of The Dollywood Foundation) -- A book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.

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SAMARITAN'S FEET -- Inspires hope by providing shoes to those in need around the world.​