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: Ticket to Give Takeaways
In March of 2012, we launched TOMS Ticket to Give, opening up the Giving Trip experience to TOMS fans.
Being able to offer this opportunity to you all, who’ve unlocked the potential of One for One from the beginning, has been amazing, exciting and new for the TOMS family, and hearing how it’s affected those that received a Ticket to Give has been equally rewarding.
So for (the majority of) this list, we’re passing the mic to those Ticket to Give participants to share the Top 10 Ticket to Give Takeaways of 2012…
10. Kelli, Ticket to Give Trip #3
My favorite part of the Giving Trip can’t be boiled down to one moment, but more, a friendship. For me, it was meeting a child named Adrian at his school. He latched on to me when we first got there, and then later that afternoon, I was so excited to see him when we had the shoe distribution at the medical campaign in his community. He seemed glad to see me too. Such a happy child!
9. Jackie, Ticket to Give Trip #1
I never expected to come home with a group of such close friends. My new TOMS family is such a wonderful part of my life now, and I am so fortunate to have all of these new relationships with such inspiring people.
8. Eli, Ticket to Give Trip #3
It’s so hard to just pick one highlight, but I think my favorite moment of our Giving Trip was placing that first shoe on a child. That moment brought my first TOMS purchase full-circle, and I physically experienced the second part of the One for One model. The child was very shy at first while trying to hide the holes in his socks. After a lot of attempts at communication, I caught a smile from the boy as he looked down at his new shoes, and that feeling is just about indescribable.
7. JoLeigh, Ticket to Give #1:
One of my favorite memories from our trip was from a dinner we had at this beautiful restaurant hidden in the hills of Copan, Honduras. [Two of the other participants] Mimi, Karida and I performed a medley we put together quickly that was themed around our experience on the trip. It’s something I’ll never forget.
6. Those time TOMS employees sprung up, one by one, in 13 towns across the U.S., to surprise each winner with the big news that he/she’d receive a TOMS Ticket to Give! Here’s the first one, but there’s a whole playlist of these money moments. So much fun.
5. Rebecca, Ticket to Give #3
My favorite moment of the trip, and now a story I love sharing is from the second day we visited one of the schools. As we were unloading shoes from the bus, I heard little voices whispering my name to each other, and then eventually a little girl seeing me and yelling, “Rebecca!” A little girl who I had given shoes to the day before ran up to me and gave me a hug and kiss and was smiling from ear to ear. She was wearing the new TOMS Shoes I had given her the day before, and she told me how much she loved them.
4. A video that reflects on the second Ticket to Give trip, when the winners joined Giving Partner Hogar de Niños Enmanuel in San Pedro Sula, Honduras to experience TOMS giving first hand.
3. Anna, Ticket to Give #3
For me, the best moment was during the final shoe distributions at one of the Coprodeli schools. I was playing with a group of about 25 five-year-old kids, and things got pretty crazy; fun crazy, obviously. There was a dog-pile; there were crazy plastic animals; fingers in my eyes; the whole deal; but then when their teacher told them it was time to come in for class, they all lined up to give me hugs individually. It was so sweet!! One of those little boys taught me how to say snake and octopus in Spanish, so I’ve got that!
2. Gaye, Ticket to Give #3
I loved all of the kids, but I loved that one of the girls we met, Daniella, worked so hard to teach me Spanish during our visit to one of the Coprodeli schools. What really struck me was that, later that day; she brought her mom to the medical campaign to show her mom how much I learned! I loved the pride that the kids showed.
1. Bo, Ticket to Give #1
About a week after being home from our Giving Trip, my wife gave birth to our second child, Jude. Life with two kids is super busy but we are having a blast watching them grow! Since our Giving Trip video came out, our daughter, Ellie, hasn’t stopped watching it. I love that TOMS is helping us teach our kids about the world and how we can help those in need. You guys are helping us teach her to live a better, more beautiful story.
