American starts shoe company to give away shoes

Was researching travel sites online when I came across this video about TOMS Shoes, an American shoe brand that makes this promise: “For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One.”

More on this amazing project:

Since our beginning May 2006, TOMS has given over over 115,000 pairs of shoes to children in need through the purchases of our caring customers. In the next twelve months, TOMS will give 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world.

Shoe drops have been done in Argentina, South Africa, and parts of the US. Was wondering if they’ve considered the Philippines, when I saw that they actually have a local distributor in Manila:

ANTHEM
2/F Greenbelt 5
Ayala Center
Makati City, All of Philippines

ANTHEM
2/F Power Plant Mall
Rockwell
Manila, All of Philippines

Has anyone checked out these shoes? A pair costs about $50 or P2500, and can go over twice that much…for espadrilles it’s still quite pricey, but I saw Spanish imports at a fair in Manila last year–in the P3,000 to P5,000 range–so knowing you’re actually buying two TOMS pairs for half the price of the Spanish ones makes it an even more convincing buy.

I just had to find out the story behind this story, so I clicked away on the TOMS site and ended up in Blake Mycoskie’s myspace page. He calls himself the Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS, and a little more poking in the TOMS blog confirmed that he did start the company in 2006 along with Alejo Nitti, a (now) 27-year-old Argentinean he met while taking polo lessons (Alejo was his instructor). Blake is 30 years old, likes sunsets and polo, credits his parents for raising him well, and to make the story even sweeter, is actually quite a looker…

Truly an inspiring adventure, accessible, and relevant to me at this point in my life–looking for meaning and purposeful everydays, with the lure of Spain still taunting me, but somehow (sadly?) growing fainter… A short chat yesterday with my old boss in devex.com put my plans into perspective–he actually suggested for me to start my own project (maybe now, maybe in a few years..could be anything from a short-term endeavor to a full-blown cultural tourism NGO)! I’ve always been curious, restless, eager to help, but I’ve run dry, and have been asking for a long, quiet break the past year. Not for random adventure (ticktock, getting older), but for a purposeful retreat, to get re-inspired mindfully, towards something concrete and focused on my life goals… but oh well there lies the problem–my big aha moment still eludes me.. The upside is I’ve narrowed the path down to two worlds that have consistently tugged at my heart: creativity and Philippine tourism.

Soon, soon.

More info on TOMS here:
TOMSshoes.com
Toms Shoes youtube channel