Toms Shoe Giveaway for Kids, Boosted by Bill Clinton, Reaches Million Mark - Bloomberg |
| Toms Shoe Giveaway for Kids, Boosted by Bill Clinton, Reaches Million Mark - Bloomberg Posted: 15 Sep 2010 09:16 PM PDT After first seeing Argentina in 2002 while competing with his sister in CBS's "The Amazing Race," Blake Mycoskie vowed to return for a relaxing trip. Instead, he was struck by the poverty and the problems stemming from kids going barefoot. "I realized how badly these children needed shoes," said Mycoskie, 34, by phone from his Santa Monica, California, headquarters. Yet he knew the ideal charity for this situation would be one that met future needs. "Once they grew out of their shoes, then they would ask for another pair." So he founded a company called TOMS Shoes that would combine business and philanthropy. For each pair the company sells, retail or wholesale, it gives away a pair of shoes or boots to impoverished children. In its first year, the company donated 10,000 pairs. In the next day or two, Mycoskie will return to Argentina to give away the one millionth pair of shoes. "To reach a milestone like this is really amazing," the Arlington, Texas, native said. "We have been so busy giving shoes that we don't even think about the scope of what we've created and what we've done." Mycoskie's venture caught the eye of Bill Clinton. Through the former president's foundation, TOMS Shoes' concept of mixing charity and commerce has reached government leaders who have helped Mycoskie expand his philanthropy. In recent years, Clinton has invited him to speak about social entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and at Clinton Global Initiative events. "Clinton not only likes our shoes, but he likes our model," Mycoskie said. Comfy Espadrille TOMS has given away shoes to thousands in 24 poverty- stricken nations, including Argentina, Ethiopia, Honduras and Haiti. His line of comfy, espadrille-like footwear for children and adults based on the Argentine alpargata design includes a plum corduroy women's classic, and a pair of twill men's "cordones." Prices range from $44 to $79. He also peddles socially conscious T-shirts with slogans such as "Drop TOMS Not Bombs." This week, Mycoskie said, TOMS will give out 3,000 to 4,000 pairs of shoes in Argentina, as it hits the million mark. They include the alpargata-style slip-ons and, particularly in Ethiopia, rubber Wellington-like boots to keep children's feet dry during the monsoon season. Mycoskie also started Friends of TOMS, a nonprofit that aids those afflicted with foot ailments and diseases such as podoconiosis, a swelling of the feet and legs caused by the absorption of silica particles in the soil. 'Horrific' Disease "It's a horrific foot disease," Mycoskie said. "People in Ethiopia get ostracized for having it, and it basically destroys the lymphatic system." Mycoskie said his company, with 85 full-time employees and more than a dozen volunteers, has plans to open an office in London as early as next year and would like to expand its shoe- giving program further. "You always want the children to feel that when they're getting that pair of shoes it's like the most important pair of shoes they've been given," he said. To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@bloomberg.net. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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