A Reason To Buy New Shoes

I just spent the afternoon at DSW looking for just the right new pair of black strappy heels to wear to a function I have tomorrow.  I didn't find just what I was looking for, but left with a cute pair of Coach cork shoes anyway.  Purchasing a new pair of heels for no special reason is a non-issue for most Americans.  But,  unbelievably, for hundreds of millions of children, shoes are something that they simply can't afford. In many developing countries, even right here in the United States, children walk barefoot everyday.  In countries such as Africa, children have to walk for miles to get to school or to gather water for their families, risking injury, infections, and exposure to soil-transmitted diseases. In some of these countries not having shoes poses another problem because many schools require shoes for attendance, giving children without them absolutely no opportunity to learn and become educated, which, of course, continues the cycle of poverty. And as TOMS states, "some soil-based diseases not only cause physical symptoms, but create cognitive impairment too, crippling a child’s long-term potential."

What is TOMS?  TOMS is a company that is doing something to get shoes to the children in need!  I love this company, started by the very handsome, if I may say so, Blake Mycoskie.  Wait...let me show you~~

See what I mean?  Yeah, I  know.  Anyway, I got off track, Blake is the Founder & "Chief Shoe Giver" of TOMS Shoes. He's the man behind what they call the One for One movement. "The One for One" movement means that for every pair of shoes you purchase, a pair is given to a child who has never had a pair of shoes!!  That very slogan is actually written on every shoe.  Yeah, it's kinda amazing!  They say that "as of April 2010, TOMS has given over 1,000,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need through giving partners around the world."  They also have shoe drops that you can sign up to go on.  These are the trips they take to deliver the shoes to the children.  It's sort of on my bucket list to go on a shoe drop but even though I've entered my name on their website many times, I've yet to get a call to go on a shoe drop.  :(  Maybe someday. 
So I really encourage everyone to go buy a pair of TOMS.  They are super cute and comfy~~awesome for travel since they slip on and off really easy.  And BEST OF ALL, every time you buy a pair, you know a child will get a pair!  How cool is that?  You can find them at Wholefoods, Whole Earth Provisions, Nordstroms, Bergdorfs, Amazon.com, online at TOMS.com or I think even Neiman Marcus has them now.  We've purchased at least 10 pair so far. They're a little pricey at around $50.00 for most pairs but when you know you're buying 2 pair of shoes~it makes sense.  Our last pair was the new pink glitter TOMS...my daughter gets compliments on them every time she wears them!  So YAY!!  There's a great excuse to go shoe shopping!  Let me know what pair you get!

                                                           http://www.toms.com/

*Much of the information for this post was found on the fabulous TOMS website!