TOMS Shoes

Have you heard of TOMS Shoes? The casual canvas shoes for men, women and children have really hit it big and not so much for their look or fit, but because of the company’s mission. Here's their story:

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. One for One. 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 our beginning in May 2006, TOMS has given over 400,000* pairs of shoes to children in need, through the purchases of caring customers.
*As of December 2009

You may have seen Mykoskie in an AT&T commercial featuring him interacting with children who have received the shoes. It seems to be a great company and great concept. TOMS One-for-One Campus Clubs are popping up at colleges across the country. In fact, Mykoskie is speaking at my alma mater, the University of Kentucky, tomorrow. It’s good to see such altruism taking place among today’s youth (do I sound like an old lady or what?). I hope it continues to blossom.

I guess I’m a little slow to join the TOMS movement, since I’m not a 20-something, the main TOMS demographic to date. But, now that I’ve arrived, I plan to order some shoes and I’m thrilled to know that a child will benefit from this purchase. Be sure to check out the TOMs website. Cool stuff available for purchase and a great blog, too.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. My Wildcats lost in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. It kills me that Bob Huggins and his oh-so-classy track suit are going to the Final Four. And, so is that evil team from North Carolina. I can’t even say their name. Sorry, still sore over an incident in March of 1992 involving a final shot at the buzzer. A tragic moment that CBS Sports insists on replaying every time they lead into the next game. Make it stop!
Images and content courtesy of http://www.toms.com/