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Lee Jones went without shoes Tuesday despite the unseasonably cool weather.

He has several pairs of shoes to select from — including two pairs of TOMS Shoes — but the McMurry University sophomore was walking around campus barefoot in support of One Day Without Shoes to promote awareness of the health risks of millions of children across the globe who do not have proper footwear.

TOMS Shoes, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based footwear company founded in 2006 by Arlington native Blake Mycoskie, started One Day Without Shoes in 2008.

The company designs and sells lightweight shoes based on the Argentine alpargata design. For every pair sold, the company donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need.

Mycoskie visited Abilene in September, when he spoke at Abilene Christian University.

Jones, a sophomore art education major from Brownwood, is participating in the annual event for the fourth year — two at Early High School and two at McMurry.

"I do it to express solidarity with kids around the world who need shoes," he said. "Because of that, they get these horrible diseases."

Dozens of other McMurry students, including Miranda Priddy of Stephenville and Amanda Genzling of Artesia, N.M., also were barefoot Tuesday.

Genzling, a sophomore biochemistry major who attended a microbiology lab Tuesday morning without shoes, said interest in the event seems to be growing at McMurry.

"This year, it's a lot bigger," she said.

Jones agreed.

"The first year (at Early High School in 2008), I was the only one who did it, but it keeps getting bigger every year," he said.

Priddy, a freshman theater major who owns three pairs of TOMS Shoes, said she's a "big believer in the cause. It's a way to support children around the world. I've seen lots of posts on Facebook by people I know back home who are going barefoot today."

TOMS has given more than one million pairs of shoes to children in Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Florida in the United States, as well as in countries including Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa and Argentina.

The company's website says more than one billion people in the world are at risk for soil-transmitted diseases, including podoconiosis, a form of elephantiasis that affects the lymphatic system of the lower legs. The company says wearing shoes helps lower the health risks and prevent the diseases.

"I've got two pair (of TOMS Shoes), and I need to get a third," said Jones, planning his next trip to Village Boutique, which sells TOMS footwear.

Violet Vaughn at Village Boutique said TOMS shoes are popular items at the store.

"Lot of college kids come in," she said, "but we have all ages. Everybody is coming in barefoot today and buying TOMS shoes. We have ladies 60 and 70 years old going barefoot. I love it."