In college my friend Rob and I would tell each other something about the other that no one else knew every Tuesday… Corny right?
Well, I decided to incorporate that idea into my blog with a little twist… Instead of giving you info about myself, on Tuesday once a month I will tell you something about someone that I feel is pretty amazing… So, with that being said the first “honoree” so to speak is going to be…
Blake Mycoskie (I’m not gonna lie, I picked the picture above of Blake solely because I love Maggie’s dress)
I was familiar with TOMS Shoes but it wasn’t until I moved to Chicago that I realized how big it was… They were literally EVERYWHERE! Not familiar? Well here’s a little back story…
TOMS Shoes is an American footwear company that was founded in 2006 which ALSO operates a non-profit subsidiary… And with every pair sold, TOMS donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need… Pretty awesome idea right? The best part is… It actually WORKS! I know with the “livestrong” bracelets, etcetera people were seeing charity becoming “trendy” and considered that to be a bad thing…but I’m supportive if it’s making an impact… And TOMS definitely does…
In 2006 alone, TOMS Shoes distributed 10,000 pairs of shoes in Argentina. In November 2007, the company distributed 50,000 pairs of shoes to children in South Africa… And as of April 2009, TOMS Shoes had distributed 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa as well as children in the United States. The company announced in April 2010 that they had given over 600,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world.
For the 2nd year in a row on April 18, 2010, I participated in TOMS’ “One Day Without Shoes.” The challenge is for people worldwide to go a day without shoes in order to raise awareness for the millions of children who go without shoes every day. According to http://www.OneDayWithoutShoes.com over 250,000 people across the globe went barefoot on April 18th in support of TOMS One Day Without Shoes.
Head over to Blake’s personal blog for more inspiration at http://blakemycoskie.blogspot.com/ and then you better get a pair of your own at http://www.toms.com RIGHT NOW! :-p