TOMS shoes

You may have heard of them. They're pretty popular around where I live. When you buy a pair of shoes, they give a pair of shoes away.  It can make a lot of difference in the lives of children.

Last night I attended a Focus on the Family taping with the founder Blake Mycoskie. He told a lot of stories that gave insight into the TOMS movement(Did you know that TOMS is short for "TOMORROW'S" but he couldn't fit it onto the tag?)

One reason he started a for-profit organization instead of a nonprofit is so that they don't depend on people's donations and can continue to provide shoes at a reliable pace.

Not many organizations focus on shoes, because people sometimes don't think shoes are important. But they are! A lot of kids in poor countries have never had a new pair of shoes. In many countries, kids need shoes to attend school! There are also a lot of cases where children's feet get infected and they die.

 

Mr. Blake told a story of when they went to put TOMS on children's feet, a woman came up to them crying. She had three sons and only one pair of shoes. The local school required shoes, so her oldest son would walk to school in the shoes on Monday, and come back and give them to his brother. They would all take turns wearing the shoes, so the oldest had to wait until Thursday so he could go to school again. TOMS changed their life.

So I will probably get a pair soon. How about you? Do you have a pair of TOMS shoes?

PS. Guys, remember when I posted about Jonny(my band/worship/high school ministry leader?) He had a heart attack, and he's only 19! Please pray! I heard he's getting better but he could still use your prayers! Thank you so much!
PPS. Jonny likes TOMS too. He has red ones. ;)