TOMS Shoes make and sell lightweight canvas shoes. And, 'one for one', for every pair of shoes they sell, they give away another pair to a child who needs them. The shoes are delivered directly to the children by Friends of TOMS, a non profit partner organization of TOMS Shoes. Friends of TOMS co-ordinate volunteers who fund their own trips to the areas of need. These trips are called Shoe Drops.

*Background

Based in Santa Monica, California, TOMS Shoes is the brainchild of Blake Mycoskie, who set up the company after returning from a trip to Argentina in 2006. While traveling there, he befriended some local children, and he realized they had never owned a pair of shoes. Barefoot walking was causing health problems for these children, whose only mode of transport was on foot. There were problems arising from cuts and sores becoming infected and parasitic diseases, and Mycoskie saw at first hand the difference a simple pair of shoes would make to these children's lives. Determined to help, Mycoskie decided that a business venture would have more long term sustainability than a charity, and he returned to the US to set up TOMS Shoes.

Today the company is a model example of corporate social responsibility: a for- profit company, it has departed from traditional business models that focus only on profit, and instead looks to doing business in a way that also directly benefits other people. So, for every pair of shoes a customer buys, the company donates a pair to a child who does not have shoes. To date, TOMS Shoes has donated over 150,000 pairs of shoes to children from Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa and the US, and it hopes to have reached 300,000 pairs by the end of 2009.

* Friends of TOMS and the Shoe Drops

Friends of TOMS was set up as a non profit partner of TOMS Shoes, to co-ordinate the practicalities of getting the donated shoes to the areas where they are needed. These missions are called 'Shoe Drops'. The first Shoe Drop happened in 2006, when Mycoskie himself returned to Argentina with a group of friends and family to deliver 10,000 pairs of shoes, to match the first 10,000 pairs sold.

Today, volunteers go out to various locations in Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uruguay and the US, making direct contact with the children. The Shoe Drops are often filmed, and the footage is used for promotional purposes, and as material for a growing marketing campaign on YouTube. Volunteers fund their own trips, or are sponsored by members of the public. Shoe drops typically run for eight days, and volunteers participate in a range of community based cultural activities while they are in the region.

* How to Participate

Shoe Drops are scheduled on a year round basis, and anyone can volunteer. Friends of TOMS are currently in the process of scheduling drops in Argentina, South Africa and the US, and they are planning dates for the next trip to Ethiopia. Members of the public can also help by sponsoring a Shoe Drop volunteer, or by using Goodsearch.com as their search engine (Friends of TOMS gets a percentage from each search).

For more information on TOMS Shoes, or to buy a pair of shoes, have a look at their website:

http://www.tomsshoes.com

And for further information on the Shoe Drops and Friends of TOMS, use this link to the Friends of TOMS website:

http://friendsoftoms.org/

Learn more about this author, Kate McKee.
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