Ashland

This week I was invited over to the corporate headquarters of TOMS Shoes in Santa Monica to check out their funky shoe line and learn more about their progressive business model. Blake Mycoskie founded TOMS Shoes on a simple premise: With every pair of shoes purchased TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what TOMS is all about.

In 2006 an American traveler Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need.  Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends, and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

Since their beginning, TOMS has given over 150,000 pairs of shoes to children in need through their One for One model. TOMS plans to give another 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world for 2009. The Friends of Toms Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of their movement. Their latest shoe drop was at The Indigo Skate Camp in a remote village outside of Durban, South Africa where children not only learn to skate, but learn mathematics, geography, and the idea that with self-discipline anything can be earned or achieved (not to mention keeping them out of trouble in a very dangerous part of the world).

Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot, whether at play, doing chores or just getting around, these children are at risk. Walking is often the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that aren’t possible barefoot.  Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores on unsafe roads and from contaminated soil. Not only are these injuries painful, they are also dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

Many times children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

Their is one simple solutions…SHOES. Of the planets six billion people, four billion live in conditions inconceivable to many. TOMS encourages us to take a step towards a better tomorrow. Learn more about what TOMS is doing to help cure the foot disease Podoconiosis through the Mossy Foot Project.