So TOMS is this great company, that I guess found a couple of years ago. I honestly wasn't into helping children like I am now. Or helping with Poverty, or just missions in general.Well this great, great, great company was founded by this American guy named Blake, and well he and, I believe, his friend went down to Argentina for some trip and noticed that the children down there didn't have shoes. So he started this company just so he could give these children that didn't have shoes a pair of shoes.
I know, so what makes this company different than all the other companies that give away shoes to the needy?
Well I am glad you asked. TOMS has this great campaign called "One for One." Well it's pretty much self explanitory. You buy a pair of TOMS shoes or any other merchandise that has the One for One by the item then you know that not only are you getting a pair of shoes or a t-shirt, but also you are purchasing a pair of shoes to go to a child that doesn't have a pair.
Which you might be thinking, well why can't I just donate money and let these children have their shoes?To me, I think it's more than giving children a pair a shoes. When you wear these shoes, a t-shirt, or a necklace, you are telling the story of hundreds of children around the world that don't have shoes. You are adovocating that there is more to life than high-priced, fashionable, uncomfortable shoes (which by the way, these shoes are extremely comfortable). There are people in this world that have it worse than us. Even some of us in the United States.
For me, I love going on mission trips, and well, if I went to a country then to a specific region that TOMS went to deliver shoes. Then while playing with the children notice that they are wearing a pair of TOMS and they see that I am wearing them. You know that like almost a instant connection. What if my purchase gave this child a pair of shoes. I don't think you could get that same feel from other companies. Not tearing them down, but that's why I support TOMS.
So for each pair of shoes bought through TOMS or a retailer of TOMS, you are providing shoes for a child that needs them.
How do they deliver these shoes? Do they just trust an individual in that state or country to handle the shoes and deliver them?
The answer is no. They actually have a group of volunteers that go with them to measure the children's feet and give them the right sized shoe. This event is called a "Shoe Drop." Which if you go to their YouTube page you will see that they just went to Rwanda with a group called RwandaBridge and they even took along with them, Kris Allen, American Idol winner. But watching the video of the shoe drop and smiles on those children's faces just makes my heart go so numb.
We take our life for granted. Today alone, I bought a new pair of TOMS, a new Bible, and I even got food. I mean I don't normally buy this much stuff in one day, but honestly I wasn't probably as happy as those children were in that short video they shot. I mean I was happy cause another child got a pair of shoes and that I was supporting another cause, World Vision by purchasing their Poverty based Bible.
These shoes, they save these children's lives quite literally.When these children don't have shoes they contract so many diseases. Some of them can't even go to school just because they don't have shoes.
Every year, or even every semester, TOMS has a day of awareness. ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES. Campuses, offices, churches, and individuals around the United States and the world go one day with out shoes to spread the awareness about the children in other countries and especially the United States. We inform people about the diseases these children and contract by not having shoes. We tell them that most of the diseases are 100% preventable just by having a pair of shoes. Some of us, even plan walks that go up to 3 miles long. Walking barefoot.
So the next time you go barefoot outside or see someone wearing a pair of TOMS think about the children out there in the world that don't have a pair of shoes. What are you going to do about it? Just stand there and hope someone will get that child a pair of shoes for you. Well don't count on it. If we all waited for people to do things for us, then nothing would get done. So check out TOMS website, and maybe even think about purchasing a pair of shoes or a t-shirt.
www.tomsshoes.com
We are apart of a Global Community, so let's help our brothers and sisters.
