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 >>
- Category:
TOMS Employee Journal - Father to Son
Dear Milo,
By the time you’re old enough to read this, you won’t fully understand what dawned on me here in Roatan. First, I want you to know that you are so loved by your mom and I. Second, I want you to know that it’s easy to love your kid, but hard to be a parent.
A bit of backstory. This was written on my last day in Roatan. Five days of giving shoes to kids taught me that their scope (much like yours) is very simple. Acknowledgment and interaction can leave quite an impression. One conversation with a parent challenged me. Actually it scared me, What if i couldn’t provide for you? What if we didn’t have the help, support, or even the resources to make sure you were cared for?
I don’t ever want to have to choose between your education or a month’s supply of food on the table. That’s the reality here. What’s worse is that it’s so common that it’s often thought of as casual. No one should ever feel disenfranchised. Hopefully our efforts here provided a little bit of hope. A pair of shoes to help unburden a parent trying to clothe their child for their education is a good thing. Knowing that this help will be repeated is a great thing. There is nothing casual about a parent providing for their child.
I said earlier that it’s easy to love your kid, but it’s hard to be a parent. The best things in life are the hardest. I won’t have you any other way.
I’m so grateful to have the support to be a better father to you. Your grandparents (both sets) played a big role in that. I’m grateful that you’re clothes, fed, and loved. Now it may seem casual to have these basic needs provided to you, hopefully it won’t seem that way when you’re a dad.
I love you, always
Dad
