A step in the right directions.

LAKE MARY, Fla. - March 30, 2013 - PRLog -- Lake Mary, FL - 2013 Damon Scott’s family vacation to the Caribbean was the impetus for a mental flip-flop that led to the founding of an organization dedicated to placing flip-flops on the feet of families around the world. What Scott discovered on his wanderings beyond the tourist attractions of Jamaica and the Bahamas was families living in poverty and filth. With few resources and walking as their primary means of transportation, their feet were dirty and torn from constant walking in mud and gravel. Many used any available material—rags, discarded water bottles or tires—to protect their feet from filth and injury. Further research revealed that the conditions Scott saw in the Caribbean are found throughout the world. Flip Flops For Families is the nonprofit organization that he founded, dedicated to putting basic protection on the feet of the poorest of the poor around the world.

         Flip-flops are an inexpensive solution to some of the problems facing those without the resources for traditional footwear. Of the world’s six billion people, four billion live in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Injury and disease are endemic. But even the minimal protection offered by flip-flops alleviates these problems. In these conditions, flip-flops are superior to close-toed shoes, which are a source of multiple bacteria.

In addition to providing the inexpensive footwear at no cost to the recipients, Flip Flops For Families also provides medical attention, medicines, schooling and school supplies, food, clothing, and personal hygiene products.

         Founded in 2009, Flip Flops For Families accepts donations of new or good used flip-flops, as well as cash. Funds are used to purchase new flip-flops. The organization encourages in-country merchants to sell donated flip-flops and thus support local economies.

         Flip Flops For Families is one vacation souvenir that Scott expects to last long after the trip and one that he hopes will have a life-changing impact.