What if you could buy yourself the coolest shoes on the planet, show them off to all your envious friends while you are, at the same time, donating a pair of the same kind of shoes to a needy child? And, best of all, do both for the same price!
The exciting part is that this is possible and has actually been happening for about five years.
Here’s the story:
Once upon a time, in 2006, a fellow named Blake Mycoskie visited the South American country of Argentina and discovered a native shoe called the alpargata or espadrille, as it is called in Spanish. The shoe, worn by Argentine workers, had a natural, and somehow urban appeal.
Mycoskie was intrigued. He began to see ways that this shoe could be modified with a longer lasting quality that could have great appeal to the modern American. He saw that the shoe needed a rubber sole for endurance, while keeping the inside of the shoe leather. He then visualized how appealing the shoe would be in bright colors and designs. He also noticed that many of the Argentine children were without shoes.
From these observations came the beginnings of one of the most unique and charitable giving programs in the world and Tom’s Shoes was born. Mycoskie came home with a plan to design superb footwear while also creating a program to help needy children.
Bryce and his company developed a unique program called One for One and in that first year 10,000 shoes, delivered by Mycoskie with friends and family in person, were brought to needy children in Argentina.
In 2010 more than 1 million shoes were delivered to underprivileged children because Tom’s Shoes and its One for One program.
So, next time you buy great footwear chose a company centered in charitable giving: toms shoes.
