TOMS Blog

TOMS now gives in more than 50 countries, and we have a network of 75+ Giving Partners around the world. Their days are often filled to the brim, and there’s always work to be done, which is why we’re so grateful when they are able to accommodate a group from TOMS to see their work first-hand.

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, we work with Shoe Giving Partner Cambodian Children’s Fund to help protect the feet of children living in vulnerable conditions — like on the Steung Meanchey landfill — by providing them TOMS Shoes. And in Battambang, we work with our Sight Giving Partner, Seva Foundation, to help them deliver eye care to those who seek it, and to support them in reaching out to those who may not be able find or afford care they need.

Being in the field is an on-the-go, roll-with-the-punches experience, but recently, we convinced one past TOMS intern and entrepreneur, one do-gooder and activist, three musicians, and one TOMS employee to join us.

Meet Molly, Ubah, Zac, Chhom Nimol, Paul, and Garett…

Molly
Founder, Echoing Good; former TOMS intern

After living in Uganda post-college, Molly’s TOMS story began two years ago as an intern on our Giving Team. Inspired by her time as an intern, she founded Echoing Good, an organization aimed at empowering communities through community-lead projects.

“Life sometimes gives you these little moments when you realize you can make a difference,” Molly said. “Not only in the world, but [also in] someone’s life.”

Ubah
Founder, Maji Umbrellas; model; activist

In 1990, at just 7 years old, Ubah’s family was uprooted by civil war in her home country of Somalia. Since then, she’s lived with the firm belief that awareness, cooperation and goodness are the best medicine. 

She told us, “I don’t compare myself with [people who are] regaining vision because that is much bigger, but I think I understand [its effect] a little more because I know how it feels to lose something and get it back.”

Zac, Chhom Nimol, Paul
Musicians in Los Angeles-band Dengue Fever

For the last decade, this trio has been jamming out as the guitarist, singer and drummer (respectively) of Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever.

“I heard the music that Cambodia was making in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and was really into it,” Zac said. He and his brother (also in the band) went down to Long Beach, Calif. — sister city to Phnom Penh and home to SoCal’s Little Cambodia — and hit the nightclub circuit looking for a singer. When they discovered Nimol, originally from Cambodia, singing, they begged her to join the band, and the rest is history. 

Inviting Dengue Fever on our journey to Cambodia helped us connect on a deeper level with the country — the people, sounds, projects and places took on new life as we watched our cultures intertwine on this Giving Trip. 

Garett
TOMS employee; former TOMS intern

With six years of experience at TOMS, this dude has just about all our short history under his belt. Garett works on our Retail team, connecting with our amazing retail partners across the country. 

“I read about TOMS in GOOD MAGAZINE when I was in college, so I emailed Blake to say I’d love to take him to lunch; pick his brain,” Garett shared. “[Blake] said, ‘I don’t have time, but we’re looking for interns if you know anybody.’

“And that was it. I’ve been around ever since.”

Garett’s time in Cambodia marked his fifth Giving Trip (two of which were in the United States), and his first opportunity to witness Sight Giving supported through TOMS Eyewear purchases.