Print this article
Share this article Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009

Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009

Every ‘90s girl’s dreams come true this past Friday.

Hanson, the indie-pop band of brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac, came to Tulane.
But it wasn’t to make the many Hanson-loving girls swoon; it was to walk a mile, barefoot, around the campus.

Take the Walk is a fundraising and awareness campaign for TOMS shoes, a company founded to give one pair of shoes away to a child in need for every pair bought.
The campaign also raises awareness and support for fighting HIV/AIDS and bringing care to those in Africa who have the diseases.

The Hanson brothers visited Africa twice in the past two years, and witnessing firsthand the effects AIDS has on the country.

“Seeing a grandmother who had lost all of her children, her brother, and her brother’s wife to HIV/AIDS and who was taking care of 11 children by herself was the moment I realized I had to do something,” said Isaac Hanson.

He recalled the beauty of the people he met there and the many who have died to AIDS, the numbers reaching the tens of millions.

“The need is in healthcare, education, clean water, and in AIDS treatment and research,” said Hanson.

TOMS shoes is providing the shoes to reach these goals.

Hanson is reaching out to communities everywhere, to Take the Walk.

For every mile walked, the band is donating $1 towards supporting the care and cure for AIDS.

Those who walk sign a card deciding where they want their dollar to go, according to those needs Isaac stated. This puts the power into the people’s hands, he said.

Baseball teams, church youth groups, colleges and many other groups have gathered together to Take the Walk.

“We need to realize our capacity, and the profound difference it makes in the world,” said Hanson.

The people who walk and support the cause aren’t the millionaires of the world; they’re everyday folks who want to see a change, he said.

“These people are not the average,” said Hanson. “They are the exceptional.”

Hanson showed their hope for Africa in their new song “Great Divide,” performed at Tulane Friday.

The band isn’t asking for much, just the good hearts of people to care about the people of Africa, he said.

Making a change doesn’t require that everyone go to Africa, he said.

“The walk is a symbol of action,” said Hanson.