Today I’ve been at a really neat event. I wore my fabulously comfy olive green TOMS boots, and one of the organizers spotted them. I told him about the awesome TOMS mission to provide a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold, and so he whipped out his iPhone to record a quick interview for his Audioboo (first I’d ever heard of it – what a neat tool!) Anyway, here’s the 30-second interview:
I have been eyeing the gorgeous Vegan Olive Wrap Boot from TOMS forever! Tonight I finally cracked and ordered the boots, plus their super cute “be the change” t-shirt too. 
These boots are so unique and they look super comfy. The colour is beautiful and you know they’re gonna fit like a glove when they’re made with elastic wrap.
I’ve been planning to order some TOMS shoes ever since I heard about the company and their commitment to donate one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes they sell. I waited for a little while in hopes that they would expand their vegan shoe availability, because I wanted to snag a pair of their cute shoes in addition to these glorious boots. So far though all the fun patterns are in the non-vegan shoes and there are just a couple of pairs that are vegan-friendly (and they are just not too visually thrilling, sorry!) So here’s hoping that they expand their vegan line to include some cool florals/polka dots/stripes – how about it, TOMS?
Anyway, I finally cracked tonight after viewing a documentary about the TOMS mission. It was a great film and I will confess that I got teary when the guys in the film cried from being overwhelmed with emotion (hey, it’s contagious!) This just drove home for me what an innovative thing TOMS is doing, really blazing a new path in corporate social responsibility. I wanted to support them, sooner rather than later, so I placed my order. I’ll have to keep my eyes on what they come out with and hopefully I can add some of their cute vegan shoes to my collection in the not too distant future.
I’ve written before about feel-good shoe company TOMS shoes. Your shoe addiction can do some good in the world – TOMS donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold.
TOMS ran a holiday campaign this year with a goal of selling 30,000 shoes in 30 days, and they surpassed their goal by 7,000 pairs. TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie made good on the company’s mission, delivering 37,000 pairs of shoes to children in Ethiopia. This is really a big deal – the provision of something as simple as shoes can help prevent parasitic diseases such as hookworm from sickening children.
Check out this trailer for the film “For Tomorrow” – it follows Blake on one of TOMS’s first shoe drops in Argentina:
The Trailer for, FOR TOMORROW The Toms shoe story from ken kokin on Vimeo.
I’m really looking forward to watching the full DVD of the shoe drop – it looks amazing! The film was an official selection for the Tribeca Film Festival 2008 and Humanitarian Vision Award Winner at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2008. Plus, you know, it has happy kids in it.
Since its beginning in May 2006 TOMS has given over 10,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina and 50,000 pairs in South Africa. In 2008 TOMS plans to give 200,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world. The TOMS community events and Shoe Drops allows TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be a part of the One for One movement.
