Excited to buy my first pair of TOMS eyewear!
A different sole for the TOMS they hand out to children in need.
The kids in Smokey Mountain really benefit from this one because of how muddy the contaminated grounds can get whenever it rains in their area. (will blog about my previous visits to Smokey Mountain soon)
Since children's feet grow really fast, they give out new pairs every 6 months. How cool is that?
Since children's feet grow really fast, they give out new pairs every 6 months. How cool is that?
Patty is so lucky that she has Pat now to take photos of her during bloggers events!
My sister hates taking my photos.
Yes, they now offer ballet flats!
Recently, TOMS has extended their one for one range to eyewear by helping people get their sight back for every pair of sunnies you purchase!
I was so excited about this when they sent out their newsletter because I come from a family with bad eyesight, and it pains me to see my grandparents suffer from degenerative eye conditions. I think my sister and I complain so much on Twitter on how sometimes it's just so frustrating to live with really bad vision (my grade is only -3.00 but my sister's is -5.00 and getting worse). I have to deal with getting constant headaches, losing my contacts, breaking my glasses, getting my contacts ripped, etc. and these are just tiny problems compared to people suffering from more serious eye conditions without getting any aid. All I'm saying is, it's costly and such a big burden even for people who can afford proper eye care so it is a big deal that TOMS has recognized the need and has focused on helping people in getting back their sight.
This is another touching video-- they gave out pairs to the kids at Smokey Mountain through WE International Philippines (an NGO that my batch and church have been working closely with). They're actually giving out shoes to so many parts of the Philippines.
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Here's some more information about TOMS if you haven't really gotten to know their mission yet.
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*edit: I buy my TOMS online/in the U.S. but you can purchase them here at SWIM (Rockwell) and Trilogy (Makati)! Plus they're going to have a pop-up store at Trinoma soon.
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Here's some more information about TOMS if you haven't really gotten to know their mission yet.
WHY SHOES?
In many developing countries, children must
walk barefoot for miles to school, clean water and medical help.
Hundreds of millions of children are at risk of
injury, infection and soil-transmitted diseases that most can't afford to
prevent and treat.
Children who are healthy are more likely to be
successful students, and access to education is a critical determinant of
long-term success.
A village of healthy, educated children have a better chance of
improving the future of their entire community.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Step 1. Identify a need: Rely on local experts
to identify communities that will benefit most from shoes due to economic,
health, and education needs, and where local business will not be affected.
Step 2. Establish a partnership: Vet NGO
partners on the ground for expertise and capabilities. Establish a sustainable
giving partnership. Monitor for accountability.
Step 3. Give..and give again: Once we identify a community and
partner, we set up a schedule to give, then give again as children grow.
WHAT SHOES DO YOU GIVE?
The shoes we give are:
1. Made to order: We make only the sizes the children need. We want to ensure
no shoes go to waste.
2. Evolving all the time: In new environments
and terrains, we are learning to adapt our shoes to best fit the children's
lives. This includes everything from thicker soles to deal with rocky terrain,
to more weather resistant materials, and black shoes required for school
uniforms.
We are currently developing: cold weather shoe
& wider shoe-- we learned that some children who have been barefoot for
years have wider feet.
WHERE
DO YOU GIVE
We currently give in 24 countries:
1.
PHILIPPINES
2.
UNITED STATES
3.
EL SALVADOR
4.
GUATEMALA
5.
NICARAGUA
6.
HAITI
7.
HONDURAS
8.
PERU
9.
ARGENTINA
10.
MALI
11.
NIGER
12.
UGANDA
13.
RWANDA
14.
BURUNDI
15.
ZAMBIA
16.
SWAZILAND
17.
LESOTHO
18.
ETHIOPIA
19.
SOUTH AFRICA
20.
MALAWI
21.
ARMENIA
22.
MONGOLIA
23.
CHINA
24.
CAMBODIA
The Journey of a Giving
Shoe: 4-6 months
Purchase-->Factory --> Boat -->
Truck/Jeep --> Child Receives a Pair of New Shoes
FACTS:
THERE
IS NO TOM
Our founder's name is Blake. TOMS is actually
an abbreviation for "Shoes for a Better Tomorrow", but we couldn't
get that on the back of a shoe, so we shortened it to TOMS.
WE
ARE CONSIDERATE OF LOCAL BUSINESSES
Going in and trampling the local economy would
be downright un-TOMSy. We always try to make sure there won't be any mom and
pop shoe makers put out of business by our giving activities.
WE
DONT GIVE ONCE AND LEAVE
We keep giving. Kids grow out of shoes. So we
strive to set up sustainable giving partnerships that allow us to give
repeatedly as children grow.
WE
DONT DO IT ALONE
As of September, our customers have given away
1,000,000 pairs of shoes (awesome), and could only have done so through our
vetted NGO partners on the ground in each location. If our little family of
employees had to do that all themselves, they'd never have time to make new
shoes or answer your calls.
WE
DONT GIVE GLITTER OR WEDGES TO CHILDREN
Promise. Not to say they wouldn't like them,
but the shoes hand-placed on children's feet are specially designed for their
terrain and environment.
GIVING
ISN'T INSTANTANEOUS
When a purchase is made, it takes about 4-6
months from purchase to feet.
KIDS
DONT MAKE OUR SHOES
This one is for the real cynics out there. Our
factories in Argentina, Ethiopia, and China are all AAA rated, and third-part
audited to ensure they employ no child labor, and pay fair wages.
WE
DONT JUST "DECIDE" TO START GIVING SHOES TO A VILLAGE
We're learning a lot, but still rely heavily on
local experts to determine our areas of giving.
*edit: I buy my TOMS online/in the U.S. but you can purchase them here at SWIM (Rockwell) and Trilogy (Makati)! Plus they're going to have a pop-up store at Trinoma soon.
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6 comments:
where do you buy your toms? some stores that are listed at the site doesn't sell toms anymore. :c
My first pairs were brought back from America but recently I was able to buy from SWIM at Rockwell! They're having a popup store at Trinoma soon...
Oh! You can also find them at Trilogy! They have a lot of styles there.
http://www.facebook.com/trilogyboutique
I was very surprised (and pleased) to read about your involvement with WE. My cousin is one of the founders and we did work with them when it was still starting out. They're a wonderful NGO and I'm glad they're featured on your blog so that more awareness can be raised about the plight of the children and what we can do to help them. Thank you. :)
p.s. those shades are gorgeous! It's unfortunate the TOMS are unavailable anywhere else in the Phils. How much do they retail for?
Drez- Cool! A batchmate and close friend of mine is the co-founder and executive director (Abee) and I really loved their mission when she first told me about it. So glad our church got involved, too! Really looking forward to volunteering for their next projects bec. I enjoy the company of kids :D I just don't get to blog about it since I don't take my camera with me whenever I go to the site.
I don't know how much they're going to sell the shades here but they're about 135 USD online. :)
Aw I know Abee. What a small world. :)
Well, photos or not it's still great that you're involved in something like that. Would you happen to know if there's anything similar in Cebu? I've been looking but so far places are either not accepting too many volunteers or they're just not online.
When I was living in Cebu we'd plan parties and donate goods to the kids of SOS at Talamban.. Not familiar with anything similar to WE International though.
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