Special-edition, Congolese-inspired TOMS Shoes
We're teaming up with Giving Partner Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), an advocacy and grant-making organization founded by Ben Affleck, on two Congolese-inspired designs with an additional give. Read More >>
TOMS x charity: water - An Eyewer collaboration
TOMS and charity: water, an organization founded in 2006 (like TOMS!) that’s dedicated to to helping bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, join forces for the first-ever TOMS Eyewear collab! Read More >>
Giving TOMS Shoes in the DRC
Founded by Ben Affleck in 2010, ECI is an advocacy and grant-making organization that works with and for the people of DRC, the third most populous country in Africa, and one that struggled under a cycle of violence for nearly 20 years – particularly in the east. Read More >>
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TOMS fans doing well with doing good – George
“One for One is a way of life. No matter what I do - at home or abroad - I’m just one person helping another person at any given moment in time” – George
George is a TOMS fan in Los Angeles who has started something that matters. He runs an organization, Dig Deep, that protects and promotes the human right to water. He recently traveled (in his TOMS shoes) to South Sudan, where he drilled for wells and promoted on-site hygiene, sanitation and human rights education to local people.
“In this photo (taken by my friend Liz), I am ‘helming’ a PAT 301TP drill - which is used to punch boreholes. It’s a messy business, but invigorating, too - since you’re waiting for that magic moment you finally strike water! Deep bore wells reduce the threat from surface contaminants, and are especially helpful in South Sudan, where ground water is abundant but deep. My friend Asiki is pictured with me. He heads the native drill crew we work with there.”
George told us…
Access to clean water should never be taken for granted. I should know this lesson by heart, but I seem re-learn it every day. It’s what inspires me to keep confronting the water crisis. Nowhere is this truth more present and humbling than in a place of water poverty.
This particular well services a church and elementary school in Gele Village, South Sudan.
Everyone knows that I love TOMS - and the pair in this photo was given to me especially for this trip. When doing development work, it’s important to pack light, and to use clothes and equipment that are versatile, dependable and washable. I see TOMS all the time in L.A., but you might be surprised to know how common they are among expatriates who work in places like Juba (the capital of South Sudan)!
It doesn’t matter what they look like or where we are, when I see someone in TOMS shoes, I immediately think: “We have something important in common.”
Do you have a TOMS story of how you’re doing well with doing good? Have you taken the One for One movementalong for a memorable or moving experience? Post your story to the TOMS Community Wall or the TOMS Facebook page anytime.
Read about Hannah and Olavé, two other TOMS fans, on the blog this week, too!
