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 - Pacha Soap Company
Start Something that Matters, a book by TOMS Chief Shoe Giver, Blake Mycoskie, challenges readers to make a positive change in the world and start a project that matters to them. Whether it is a unique business idea with a giving element or a school assignment to improve the community, each project contributes to making a difference. We’ve received many stories from likeminded individuals that have been inspired to start something that matters.
Soap, a basic essential for proper hygiene, is not always easily accessible in many parts of the world. Two years ago, Andrew spent a semester in Peru where he lived and worked in a small village. It was there that he saw the need for basic hygiene.
After volunteering with a construction crew in the Sacred Valley, and with an immense desire to help those around him, he came up with the idea for Pacha Soap Company. To take his idea a step further, Pacha Soap “Raises the Bar” and, with every bar purchased, donates a bar of soap to a local community.
Andrew returned to his home in Kansas determined to see his business idea through. Enlisting the help of his friends, he made everything from scratch – from the paper that held the soap to the soap molds and cutters. The soap was handcrafted using natural, eco-friendly ingredients. Much like TOMS, which started in a small apartment, Pacha Soap produced its first batch in the spare room of Andrew’s college apartment.
The “Raise the Bar” campaign is threefold. The first step is for every bar sold, Pacha Soap donates a bar of soap to a local community. When you buy a bar of soap in Kansas, for example, the giveaway bar is given to a local shelter. When you purchase a bar of soap online, at the newly launched pachasoap.com, they will donate a bar of soap to a specific organization in a designated country. Currently, Pacha Soap is planning a trip back to Peru to donate bars from their online sales. The second step of “Raising the Bar” is to donate a portion of profits to help fund clean water projects across the world. To make the process come full circle, Pacha’s third goal is to establish factories in other countries where the locals will be able to run their own soap factory using natural ingredients and fueling the local economy.
Pacha Soap now has its own headquarters in downtown Hastings where the team produces and ships the soap. When asked what advice he had for the TOMS community, Andrew replied, “Your life changes when you see people dying of conditions that are preventable with a bar of soap. This motivation to ‘Start Something that Matters,’ as Blake Mycoskie said, far surpasses the motivation of monetary gain. My advice is this: share your passion with others and instill in them the same motivation to help that you have within you.”
See how you can help Raise the Bar and visit the site: Pacha Soap Company.
