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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Start Something that Matters - “Mimi & Maty to the Rescue!”
Mimi Ausland was 11 when she thought up the concept for FreeKibble.com in 2008. She’s a long-time TOMS fan, a person her dad calls a “compassionate, big-hearted kid” who spurred big moves in the world of animal advocacy.
Her parents say Mimi was always wanting to be around animals - even more specifically rescue animals - when she was a kid; so she started hanging at the local shelters in her hometown of Bend, Oregon at 6 years old (even though you can’t be a full-fledged volunteer until age 9). A wise young lady, Mimi knew about the website FreeRice.org that was helping feed the hungry by giving online users a chance to click-through and contribute in a simple, quick way; she put two and two together and asked her parents why they couldn’t commit to that same idea and use it to benefit hungry animals.
And so they did. Kelly, Mimi’s dad, told us, “Mimi was totally committed to the idea, and once we helped her kick it off, the project was getting national attention and media! Soon after we started, Brooke - Mimi’s mom - and I made a decision that, looking back, was a no-brainer: we decided to put the projects we were working on aside and adopt this as a family project.”
Pretty amazing, right?
Now, 130,000 daily visits, 12 giving partners and lots & lots of delivered dog and cat food later, FreeKibble is lending some of its steam to a new project, spearheaded once again by the Ausland family. This time it’s the first of a book series for children!
To inspire kids to participate and engage with a real-life, serious global issue, Mimi’s mom/Kelly’s wife, Brooke, authored “Mimi and Maty to the Rescue!” It’s fiction, but inspired by Mimi and her 3-legged dog, Maty, who is still alive and “a super cool dog,” Kelly promises.
He adds, “So many kids love animals; that relationship is just part of the world’s [web of] connection. We think Mimi and Maty’s story will help ignite that.”
This project’s not tied directly to FreeKibble.com, but it directly affects the prosperity of the movement to protect animals and their rights, ideals which FreeKibble stands for and promotes. And what’s more: right now there’s a One for One give involved in the book’s sale.
With every book sold, generationOn will donate a copy of “Mimi and Maty to the Rescue!” to schools, libraries and kids organizations.
In distributing the book to children in Oregon, Kelly says his wife and daughter (and their dog) are seeing that “The kids are so inspired by this book, and that’s helping them engage in the cause. That’s probably more exciting than anything else.”
Read more about the family’s current project at www.mimiandmaty.com
Join other animal advocates in helping get food to hungry animals at www.freekibble.com
And check back regularly on the TOMS Blog for more stories of inspiring folks who Start Something that Matters…
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