Names: John and Gilbert
Ages: 14 and 11
Location: Northern province, Rwanda
Giving Partner: World Vision

John and Gilbert are best friends and just received their second pair of new TOMS from Giving Partner World Vision. They were so grateful that they sang a song to thank you for their new shoes.



Since 2009, TOMS Giving Partner World Vision has been distributing TOMS Shoes to children throughout Rwanda, among more than 15 other countries. On the day John & Gilbert received their second pair, children, their families and community leaders gathered to receive the new shoes, expressing deep thanks all the while.

Learn more about how World Vision gives TOMS & read stories from the Giving Side here on the TOMS Blog...

Name: Razoni
Age: 13
Location: Chuadanga, Bangladesh
Giving Partner: A Leg to Stand On

Razoni is a bright 13-year-old girl with a knack for drawing and big dreams of becoming an engineer and traveling. She loved going to school and studying Bangladeshi literature, despite the dangerous long distances she had to travel to get to school.

When Razoni was 6-years-old, she stepped off a rickshaw on her way to school and a vehicle struck her from behind causing severe damage to her leg. Razoni suffered a below-the-knee amputation as a result of the accident. Due to the social stigma surrounding prosthetic limbs in Bangladesh and her family’s inability to afford treatment, she did not receive a prosthetic leg until recently — almost nine years later — through the help of A Leg to Stand On (ALTSO). ALTSO helps to provide free corrective surgery, prosthetic and orthotic devices, mobility aids and rehabilitation to children with limb disabilities in the developing world. ALTSO is also a TOMS Shoe Giving Partner.





A few weeks after Razoni received her prosthetic limb, ALTSO began a TOMS shoe distribution in her community. For many children, it was their first pair of shoes. When Razoni arrived at the distribution, she was only wearing only one worn out sandal. The local plastic sandals were not equipped to fit prosthetic limbs, so she had never owned a proper pair of shoes. Razoni was both humbled and so thankful after receiving her new TOMS Shoes. They fit her prosthetic perfectly. Her resilient spirit was even more lifted and determined to work toward learning to walk with her new limb.

“Having a pair of shoes that fits the prosthetic makes it more durable and gives it a longer shelf life,” said AJ, from Giving Partner ALTSO.

With the help of ALTSO, Razoni is learning how to effectively navigate with her new limb. Now that she is able to walk again, she is back in school studying Bangladeshi literature and enjoys spending time visiting her family and friends. Razoni is smiling and happy and working toward a normal life, becoming independent with the help of her prosthetic limb and TOMS Shoes.

Hogar de Niños Enmanuel is an orphanage in Honduras that is home to more than 80 children. They have an impressive leadership program where older kids lead large projects at the orphanage – from making and selling tortilla in the community, to helping arrange the logistics and giving of TOMS shoes to children at impoverished schools throughout the area.

While helping Hogar de Niños give shoes, TOMS VP of Creative, Felipe, was inspired by the passion, humility and joy that the staff and children at Hogar de Niños.

I kept forgetting that some of the volunteers who we were helping give TOMS shoes with were children from the orphanage. It was so amazing to see the trickle down effect at Hogar de Niños. These kids who are given TOMS are also turning around and helping other kids so selflessly.  The giving didn’t stop at one child, the same kids were reaching out to do good and help others.

 I was also struck that the giving of TOMS shoes went beyond just the physical shoe.  I hadn’t realized the emotional benefits giving a pair of new shoes brought to children…how it affected them in their emotional growth, how they felt valued and were emotionally lifted.  Teachers shared with me that they saw an improvement in schoolwork and the way students interacted with each other.  After a shoe distribution took place, teachers said they felt empowered and more positive about their role at the school.  I was humbled that this wasn’t just about giving shoes.  That the partnership between TOMS customers, TOMS and Giving Partners was having a much greater effect. 

I am thankful that together we’re supporting a movement toward kindness and empowering children and community members.

From our customers, to our staff, to the incredible organizations that give our shoes with love - we are grateful for the positive impact we have had together across the world.

Rodrigo, 8, Peru
Giving Partner: Coprodeli

Rodrigo, an 8 year old boy living in Peru, has big dreams to become a doctor. When he received his new shoes from TOMS Giving Partner Coprodeli, he thought they were “so cool” and was very excited to wear them to school and play sports!

But Rodrigo will have much more than comfortable shoes to walk, run and play in. These shoes will help him to attend school every day. And they will help protect his feet from diseases, cuts and infections. They have made him feel proud, nurtured and cared for.

Rodrigo comes from an impoverished area in Peru, where many family homes are made of basic materials like: sticks, reed mats, cardboard and plastic. Before receiving a new pair of TOMS shoes, Rodrigo had been attending school barefoot. He’s had shoes once before, “a long time ago, when my grandmother bought me a pair.”

TOMS Shoe Giving Partner Coprodeli is working to make strides in development in Rodrigo’s community. Distributing shoes supports Coprodeli’s philosophy by providing resources that allow people to access opportunities to improve their well-being and quality of life.

Because of your support, Rodrigo and many other children around the world now have shoes that fit their feet. But more importantly, when shoes are combined with additional resources provided by TOMS Giving Partners, they create an opportunity to help a child like Rodrigo reach his dream of becoming a doctor.

To learn how TOMS works with Giving Partners to affect real change in communities like Pachacutec, where Rodrigo lives, read this blog post. 

One of the essential pieces to the TOMS relationship with Shoe Giving Partners is having a bigger impact within the community. Children who are given TOMS shoes often receive them as part of larger health and education programs led by Giving Partners and their teams. When children get the care and opportunities they need to keep them healthy, aware and empowered, they are able to excel in school and, further, in their community.

TOMS Shoe Giving Partner Coprodeli has served some of the most impoverished families of Peru since 1989. Their vision is to provide real, sustainable growth in communities wherein families learn to support themselves. To get there, the Coprodeli team builds structures of mutual support and respect in the community, so that those who are helped can rely on the organization to foster growth, and Coprodeli can depend on the community members to make that growth happen for themselves.

With the partnership established between TOMS + Coprodeli, children receive shoes when they take part in services provided by Coprodeli’s schools, youth outreach centers, medical centers, preventative health outreach program, or through humanitarian aid distributions.

Distributing shoes supports Coprodeli’s philosophies directly by providing resources that will translate to people’s improved quality of life. Socially, emotionally, and economically, shoes play an important role for those being helped by Coprodeli’s work. Shoes often mean more opportunity in education, employment, and physical and emotional health.

We’re so proud of the work they continue to do to help people in need, and are thrilled we can be a part of this life-changing process.

One of our favorite parts about working at TOMS is the awareness that, even when we are hard at work at our desks at HQ in Santa Monica, the One for One movement is changing the lives of people around the world. We circulate amazing photos we get from our Giving Partners via email, the Giving team shares updates weekly about where new shoes are arriving through an internal newsletter, and we catch tweets from customers who have discovered a child wearing TOMS while out volunteering in the field.

We’re also extremely fortunate to have some of our TOMS Giving Partners visit us in person! Teams will come through LA for meetings or events, and we invite them here to HQ. They typically come in for a couple hours. We get the entire staff together in the main warehouse where we huddle around each other’s desks, standing shoulder to shoulder, whispering hellos and exchanging “what are you working on lately?”s. We then invite the Giving Partner to stand up on our homemade plywood stage, only a foot or so off the ground, with a microphone that sometimes works, and other times doesn’t. No one ever seems to mind. They share who they are, where they have traveled from, and often lead with a most genuine and passionate, “thank you!” They’ll tell us a story or two about the kids they have given shoes to, and how much these shoes will help that child.

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of meeting three beautiful girls who have been helped (and received TOMS shoes!) through the services of Cambodian Children’s Fund, a TOMS Giving Partner since 2010. They joined CCF Founder Scott Neeson on our simple plywood stage, and although we’ve had a handful of Giving Partners come through our warehouse door, this was the first time we had the pleasure of meeting shoe recipients at HQ.

Scott, who was once an film exec in LA, with a big house, nice cars, and a boat in the Marina told us, “It's been a long way down the other side, and I couldn't been happier. I've been living in Cambodia for 7 years, and I have the most wonderful and inspirational life, and the children are amazing."

The girls were eager to take the mic and say hello to all of the TOMS staff next, but when the room fell quiet, you could sense their hesitation, their uncertainty of their English. “What should I say?” you could hear them thinking... But each of them had the same solution – a big, giggly smile, and an honest, exclamatory, “Thank you! For the TOMS shoe!”

Since TOMS employees must work here for a year before traveling on their first Shoe Drop, for some, these visits are the first encounter with the giving side of One for One.

Natasha, who joined the TOMS team in April, said, “It’s so amazing to hear the stories from Giving Partners. And hearing from these girls specifically was so powerful. It was exciting to know we had a part in helping them to get to where they are today.”



After the all-staff meeting, some of the TOMS family approached the girls with admiration and warm hellos. When we asked them questions, they smiled, thought carefully about how to respond in English, and then confidently did so.

“The fact that these young girls could stand before us, speaking English and encouraging each other, shows how brave they are,” said Cesar, a TOMS employee. “They have so much confidence after going through hard times. To me, this shows how important things that seem so small, like shoes, are in opening doors and empowering people to pursue their goals, and attain them.”

Claudy, 12, lives with his parents and two siblings in Limbe, Haiti, in a two-room home near the woodshop where his father works. His mom sells candy at a local school. But even with both parents at work, affording new shoes has never been possible. Before receiving his TOMS, Claudy had to make do with ill-fitting, used shoes with holes in the bottoms.





Why wouldn’t he just go barefoot? Two reasons: schools in Haiti require shoes as part of the uniform. And, while Claudy’s mile-long walk to school seems idyllic – through woods and over creeks – it’s actually hazardous without shoes. Children in Haiti walk over rocky trails and are exposed to parasites that live in soil and water. These parasites enter the body through the skin and mouth and cause cramping, weakness, diarrhea and much more. But with new TOMS, and medication from IMA World Health, these children’s walks are not only more comfortable, but safer – they are protected from parasites and injury from rough paths.

Stories like Claudy’s have been taking shape in Haiti since 2010, when TOMS's Giving Partnership began with IMA World Health. Thanks to TOMS supporters and dedicated Giving Partners like IMA, fewer children in Haiti are being held back by the lack of shoes. They’re able to walk without worry, continue learning and have more time just being kids.

A few weeks ago, a team from TOMS, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s THE ROW, and TOMS Giving Partner World Vision recently distributed new shoes to children in Honduras. During their Shoe Drop, the group pooled their beautiful accounts of the shared experience and created a blog. Now we can read their amazing giving stories!

Read the blog that tells the story of the Honduras Shoe Drop with TOMS, Mary-Kate and Ashley's THE ROW, and World Vision

This past May, Ashton, a TOMS fan, traveled in the area surrounding Port au Prince, Haiti, one of the places where TOMS gives through Shoe Giving Partners. Having visited orphanages and schools in local villages, Ashton probably has tons of stories from her trip to this "beautiful and strong country," but we're especially proud to relay the story she told us…

Ashton wore her TOMS shoes throughout her trip, knowing that she might see children also donning the TOMS flag on their feet. That possibility became a reality during her visit to a school, and Ashton shared an adorable and touching moment with a young Haitian girl because of it.
 

"The little girl beside me in the picture came running up to me, pointing at my shoes. She actually tried taking mine off and taking hers off to show me that we matched. The smile on her face showed pure happiness.

A lot of children [I met and saw in Haiti] did not have good shoes, and most had no shoes at all. Seeing some [children] with TOMS shoes on just made me realize even more what an impact TOMS makes in a child's life.

Some customers buy the shoes because they like them, but I buy the shoes because I know somewhere in this world, a child has something on their feet to call their own. It simply makes them happy to know someone cares."