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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Top 10: Giving Moments
This year, and every year for the past six that TOMS has been around, we like to reflect on moments, announcement and learnings from the past 12 months, and take some time to appreciate what those things – big and small – have done for the company and for the One for One movement.
Here are the top 10 Giving moments that helped us deepen our commitment to the people who’ve received sight, the children who’ve received shoes, to our Giving Partners and to YOU in 2012:
10. Because you purchased TOMS Eyewear, Himansu, 5, successfully underwent surgery in Nepal that helped him see again. In 2012, we grew our Sight Giving program more than 400% so we can treat people like HImansu in 10 more countries.
9. In 2011, Partners In Health began to give TOMS Shoes in Malawi. They found that providing new TOMS gave them the opportunity to screen more children for malnutrition and provide medication to prevent hookworm infections. The shoe distributions were such a success that Partners In Health and TOMS expanded the partnership in 2012 to be able to reach every child in the Southern district of Neno in Malawi. Powered by your purchases, Partners In Health has the opportunity to reach every child in an entire district with new TOMS Shoes and the vital health services children in Neno need.
8. Back in 2011, TOMS founder/chief shoe giver penned a New York Times Best Seller called “Start Something that Matters.” In keeping with the TOMS philosophy, for every book purchased, a new children’s book would be provided to a child in need through FirstBook.org. Early into 2012, FirstBook found a home for the first batch of those new books at a Los Angeles elementary school.
7. In April of this year, Bryan, on the TOMS Creative team, adjusted to life after his Giving Trip to Honduras with TOMS + Giving Partner Hogar de Ninos Enmanuel. Bryan’s one of the few TOMS employees who’s also a dad. In place of a Giving Trip journal, he wrote a letter to his son Milo, 1 at the time. We love this.
6. We learned from the social/private model of TOMS Sight Giving Partner Visualiza Eye Care Center, a landmark provider of sight-saving services in Guatemala. We featured this Giving Partner in our Fall 2012 catalog, and continue to learn from their innovative approach to sustainable eye care provision with every new month that TOMS Eyewear supports their facility. Read this blog post to learn more about how this center serves its community responsibly…
5. In May of 2012, Australian “Maker of all things assorted” Maricor Manalo joined the TOMS team on a Giving Trip to Peru. There, she rallied a group of children to design and execute a mural on the walls of a Peruvian school.
4. With this blog post last January, we introduced the concept of a “mobile eye camp” (like a pop-up eye care clinic), seizing the opportunity to explain for the first time an additional layer of how we give sight. Aligning TOMS with some of the biggest, most respected players in sustainable eye care provision (like Seva Foundation, our lead Sight Giving Partner) we help bring sight-saving opportunities to rural communities.
3. We first messaged our partnership with the strong, multi-national organization Save the Children in July of 2012. STC takes an innovative approach to incorporating TOMS Shoes into its programs, by creating teachable moments for children in El Salvador.
2. With our Giving Partners, we equipped educators to screen students for eye care. In addition to providing the medical resources needed for existing trained professionals to save or restore sight to people in need, the Giving side of TOMS Eyewear provided for the training of new professionals.
1. This year, we introduced the United States to our Sight-Giving program, and expanded our domestic shoe-giving. As of 2012, we distribute shoes with National Relief Charities in reservation communities of the U.S. Southwest and Plains regions. With Helen Keller International’s ChildSight program, TOMS Eyewear purchases provide additional opportunities for eye care in urban, low-income neighborhoods of New York and Los Angeles.
Thank you for making this list a real, tangible reflection on how collaboration can affect change. One for One.
