TOMS shoes is a for profit company that designs lightweight shoes, but this is not their biggest selling point. TOMS also has a not for profit subsidiary “Friends of TOMS” and for every pair of TOMS shoes sold a pair of TOMS are donated to those that are less fortunate.
In The Beginning Of TOMS Shoes
In 2006 Blake Mycoskie travelled to Argentina where he became friends with some children. It was then that he realized that these children had no shoes to keep their feet protected from the elements, diseases and wounds. These children also couldn’t attend school without shoes as it was part of the requirements for a school uniform. No shoes, no education. It was then that he created TOMS shoes hoping to be able to help, and help he did. Later that year he made his return to Argentina where, along with friends, family and staff, he delivered 10,000 shoes. This was only the start of the One For One Movement.
What’s Happening With TOMS Shoes Now
TOMS is currently giving shoes to more than 20 Countries throughout the world and are expanding all the time thanks to the giving nature of their customers and changing lives daily with what they call “The One For One Movement.” With every pair of shoes purchased a pair is donated to children that would not otherwise have shoes. As of September 2010 TOMS had given over 1,000,000 pairs of brand new shoes to many children in need all around the world.
In order to get these shoes to the people who need them most, TOMS Shoes has started what they refer to as “Shoe Drops.” These Shoe Drops allow volunteers, staff and many other TOMS family members to visit a country where their giving partners are handing out shoes.
Those involved in the process have a life changing experience of their own as they are enabled to place the donated TOMS shoes on the child’s feet themselves. TOMS Shoes hope for those that are invited on Shoe Drops is that these people will use the experience as an influence to return home committed to helping change the world for the better.
TOMS shoes has an ongoing commitment to changing lives for the better. A pair of TOMS shoes can allow a child to go to school, influencing their future for a better tomorrow. A pair of TOMS shoes can protect a child from disease, injury and infection. A pair of TOMS shoes not only makes a difference in the purchaser’s life but also provides a brighter future for a child that may not have had that opportunity otherwise.
TOMS a One For One company will match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One!