McKinley Avenue will be taken over this evening by a mob of students interested in doing their part to raise awareness about the real-life situation millions of people worldwide wake up to every day--poverty.
Students wanting to raise awareness are joining together with TOMS Shoes in an event known as Take the Walk, aimed at raising money to help fight poverty.
Take the Walk is an event that was started by the band Hanson as a way to give back and do more than they did before. The band eventually paired up with TOMS shoes and started advocating for actions on humanitarian efforts by calling on thousands of people worldwide to participate in one-mile walks to fight HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. It originally was aimed at just shoes, but eventually branched out to different areas.
The event was brought to Ball State University last year after founder of TOMS shoes, Blake Mycoskie, came and talked to students on campus.
Katrena Thompson, a Student Voluntary Services member, thinks this event is important to students because many times they are simply unaware of what's going around them.
"A lot of times I feel like we are in our little bubble, especially students on Ball State's campus. We're in our little bubble and we don't really think a lot about the Muncie community or what else is going on," the sophomore family studies and child development major said.
She feels that students don't always realize how important this event is, and how fortunate they are to have some of the necessities we often take for granted.
"I think that people don't really step back and put themselves in other people's shoes sometimes. I think that by doing this walk, you're just being knowledgeable about what's going on in other countries," Thompson said.
At each Take the Walk event, one dollar for every registered student is donated by Hanson to help support causes in Africa including AIDS awareness, schools, shoes, health care and water wells.
Last year's event at Ball State had the advantage of being promoted to students by Mycoskie and 150 students took part. However, even without the extra publicity, SVS is hoping to exceed that number this year.
Students can choose to either walk barefoot or wear shoes at the event. Thompson said that a lot of students are turned off by the event because they think they have to do the event barefoot, but she thinks it's important for students to know that they do have an option.
The event is hosted through SVS by the Citizens Scholars, which are part of SVS as an AmeriCorps organization, and is part of SVS's Week of Action. The Citizen Scholars are in charge of planning activities throughout the week, and developed the theme. They decided this year's theme was poverty throughout the world and the Muncie community.
For Angelina Zulas, Citizen Scholar member and sophomore social work major, the event means being a visible sign of action by getting a large group together and being able to make a statement.
"I don't think people really see that, with all the needs in society today, that they can make a difference. Just one person or one dollar can make a difference. With a bunch of people getting together, we can motivate some kind of relief and a big movement to better the world," Zulas said. "We're not just looking at poverty. We're looking at humanity as a whole and trying to make people understand that there's a need and there are sufficient ways to help those needs."
Zulas is expecting a mixed reaction from Ball State students about the event. Although many students are interested in advocacy and encouraging the betterment of the society, she thinks that some students think it's weird or just like to scoff at the idea of big groups getting together for events like this.
"I want students to understand that Week of Action is kind of a big deal to us because we really want students to get involved. We want people to understand that we're not just a bunch of kids you come to get your service hours done," Zulas said.
The only thing that is going to change from last year is the route of the walk. Construction by the Studebaker East complex has caused the sidewalk in front of the complex to be knocked out. As a result, this year's route will be from McKinley Avenue to Riverside, where the students will then walk down the sidewalks between Dehority and Woodworth complexes to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and end at the University Green.
The event starts at 5 p.m., with registration at 4:30 p.m., and is expected to last no more than 45 minutes.
"For me it makes a difference because I'm making an impact in somebody's life that I'm never going to know. They're never going to know me and they're never going to know how much it means to me to make that impact in their life," Thompson said.
"You don't know by giving one child a pair of shoes what that's going to do for their lives, because now they're going to be able to go to school and get their education. And from there they can take over the world- in a positive way. You just never know what it's going to do."
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