TOMS

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie, an American travelling in Brazil befriended some children on his holiday. He noticed that they had no shoes to protect their feet. An entrepreneur and a born philanthropist himself, he decided to do something about the issue, and created TOMS Shoes. Children in third world countries go without shoes, resulting in injuries, dangerous infections and open sores. Having access to shoes enables children to walk great distances to get food, shelter and medical help. It also assists via education, as children’s aren’t allowed to go to school without shoes, without an education they don’t get access to opportunities and the snow balling continues. TOMS Shoes matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need.

TOMS has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in need through the one for one model. You buy a pair, they give a pair away, it’s a simple system that really works. I admired Blake’s decision to remodel and challenge existing fundraising strategies globally, by tapping into everyone and anyone, not a list of donors or a membership program.

Blake is a philanthropist with a can do approach, which has also resulted in great shoes, that have a wonderfully simple asethetic. You can buy the shoes directly from the website and they ship globally.