When I went home for spring break back in March, a friend of mine introduced me to a pretty cool shoe company. All it took was one commercial on YouTube for me to fall in love with the company. Perhaps you have heard of Tom's shoes. They are awesome. My parents bought me a totally sweet pair for my birthday in June.
It seemed like everyone I talked to had either never heard of Tom's shoes or they have heard of it but had no idea what it was. I come back to school is August and it was like BAM! An explosion of Tom's shoes. Okay, not really, but I certainly saw a lot of people rockin the Toms. This company is great because it bring together two things I love, community service and shoes, to a nice harmony.
Actually the real reason why I love this company is because they are truly dedicated to giving back. Tom's shoe company has a one for one deal. For every pair of shoe or piece of merchandise they sell, they will donate one pair of shoes to a child.
Blake Mycoskie started a shoe company that vowed to donate one pair of shoes for every pair they sold. While in a bar during vacation in Argentina, Blake met a nonprofit group that was giving children pairs of shoes. The concept was great but the problem was the shoes were old and did not fit properly. Blake decided to start a company that sold laid back shoes that incorporated donating to charity. Blake started with $500 and 250 prototypes. So for all of you aspiring entrepreneurs out there, let Blake be an inspiration to you.
Blake felt that shoes were very important, which is why he focused on a shoe company rather than food or water, like many other nonprofit groups around the world. In Argentina, most children do not own a pair of shoes, and since walking is the primary mode of transportation, this causes a problem. Shoes allow people to walk places that they could not walk to before. Shoes also protect the feet from cuts and scrapes, which could get infected. I'm going to go off on a little tangent here. Bear with me.
My worry about the cuts on children's feet might sound a little but silly but it is a legitimate concern. Podconosis is a parasitic infection caused by three kinds of round worms that get into your body and make their way through the lymphoid. They destroy the ability to process bodily fluids and can cause limbs to swell and for lack of a better term look like elephant limbs. Google it, you will understand what I mean. It is estimated that between 50,000 and a million Ethiopian people are affected by the disease through silica-rich soil. So I'm not crazy it's a legit concern.
Also, you know how restaurants here have that no shirt no shoes no service policy? Turns out it is kind of the same in countries over there. Most school uniforms require shoes so if you do not have a pair of shoes you cannot get an education. No shoes=no service.
I hate to generalize but I am willing to bet that every single person affiliated with Longwood whether it is students, faculty or staff, own a pair of shoes. I bet that a good percentage of you own a pair of shoes that costs over $44. That is the average price of one pair of Tom's shoes. That may seem like a lot but look at it this way. You are really buying two pairs of shoes. You have the pair that you keep and the pair that is donated. So really it's like you are spending $22 on a pair of shoes and donating $22 to charity.
As of April 2009 Tom's shoes had donated 140,000 pairs of shoes. They hope to reach 300,000 by the end of 2009. It is an easy goal to achieve, especially since Tom's shoes sell several products that also qualify for the one for one deal. All of the products including shoes, T-shirts, hats and onesies include a pair of shoes for a child in need.
Ok guys these shoes are just straight up awesome. I am not really sure what else I can tell you to convince you. Go look up Tom's shoes on YouTube. There are some great commercial that if you are like me (and I pity you if that's the case) they will melt your heart too. The website is also pretty easy, just type in www.tomshoes.com on your browser. So check it out, buy a pair and rock them around campus.
