Students forego shoes for a week to fight poverty

To raise money and shoes for local shelters and children in developing countriesSeveral Bishop Grandin High School students are going barefoot this week.

About 20 students will be without shoes round the clock for a week starting Monday as part of the fundraising effort, which was organized by Grade 10 students Kelsey Ross and Lexi Streu.

Ross admitted the first day of commuting to school barefoot wasn't easy.

"Taking the C-Train was kind of painful and a little bit gross, but it's worth it in the end to raise awareness, because I got asked by a lot of people why I wasn't wearing shoes."

The students are collecting new and used shoes for Calgary's local shelters, as well as cash donations for Free the Children, an international children's charity founded by Canadian Craig Kielburger in 1995.

Ross and Streu got the idea from Bilaal Rajan, a young activist from Toronto they met while building a school in Ecuador last summer with Free the Children. Rajan spent seven days without shoes last month to raise awareness about child poverty.

Ross said her mother is proud of her efforts but asked that she carry a First-Aid kit with her during this barefoot week.

"It's just really important that people understand that and appreciate what they go through.A lot of people in our society don't appreciate what we have and … what people go through — like not having shoes," Ross said.