The San Jose City College MAC club hosted “A Day Without Shoes” in front of the Student Center on Thursday, April 12.

MAC member Mai Nass, animal biology major, said the event was first created by the company Tom Shoes to raise awareness about people around the world who have illnesses caused by not having footwear.

As students arrived to the event, they were asked to remove their footwear to try out the display that the club set up in front of the booth.

The display had one section of rough sand and one section of bulky rocks, which were placed on top of a tarp. Students walked on both of these so they could see how it is to walk on uncomfortable surfaces barefoot.

“This actually hurts,” said one student. “This is really uncomfortable to walk on,” said another student.

Sahar Lama, 16, biology and art studies major, said the club will have a couple of bins in the Student Center throughout the rest of the semester if there are any last minute footwear donations.

“We want to raise at least $300,” Lama said. “But raising $500 will be great.”

The club held their first “A Day Without Shoes” event in April of 2011. In that event, MAC members collected donations from their booth outside of the Student Center but found it inefficient to collect donations when staying in one area.

The club then decided to walk up to students and ask for donations. This helped the club  raise a large amount of money for the cause.

During last year’s event, members were able to raise about $500, and this year they would like to raise more money.

The club also wanted students to realize it is an important issue and for a good cause, because the donations will go to a many people in need.

“Do what millions of people do every day,” Lama said. “Every donation is going to change someone’s life.”