TOMS campus reps, Poet's host night of awareness, music, freebies
Micheal Ford
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: Entertainment
Two tech students, serving as TOMS Shoes campus reps are hosting an event to raise awareness for children in need all over the world. Matt Pack, senior ESL major, and Amanda Mercer, sophomore housing and design major, will be at local coffee shop Poet's on the Square tonight from 6 to 10 p.m., discussing the TOMS Shoes mission, viewing a film about Toms, giving away prizes, and enjoying some of Cookeville's live music scene.
TOMS Shoes is a fairly new company founded on the thought that a charitable business model could be just as profitable as any other. Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver opened TOMS Shoes in 2006. For every pair purchased, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need.
People doubted Mycoskie's business plan, Mercer said. "They told him 'You're never going to make money that way.'"
But Mycoskie proved any doubters wrong, with TOMS becoming a very successful venture coinciding with its non-profit donation organization, Friends of TOMS, and staying true to the one-for-one promise. By April 2009, TOMS had donated about 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa, and more recently, in the United States.
In design, TOMS are based on the Argentinean alpargata, a lightweight canvas shoe worn by most Argentineans. While vacationing therein 2006, Mycoskie decided to borrow the simple yet functional design and apply it to his business gamble, a gamble that has made TOMS an internationally recognized shoe brand. Mycoskie is currently looking to expand operations outside of TOMS' home in Santa Monica, California, by opening a factory in Ethiopia.
Stopping debilitating diseases like Podoconiosis, is one of TOMS' chief points of focus. "Some children walk up to three miles to get water," Pack said. Walking barefoot on toxic soils like those found in some areas can lead to diseases which can lead to full loss of walking ability. Alike, many schools require shoes to be worn when attending school. "If they can't afford shoes," Pack said, "they can't afford an education."
TOMS Shoes is a fairly new company founded on the thought that a charitable business model could be just as profitable as any other. Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver opened TOMS Shoes in 2006. For every pair purchased, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need.
People doubted Mycoskie's business plan, Mercer said. "They told him 'You're never going to make money that way.'"
But Mycoskie proved any doubters wrong, with TOMS becoming a very successful venture coinciding with its non-profit donation organization, Friends of TOMS, and staying true to the one-for-one promise. By April 2009, TOMS had donated about 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa, and more recently, in the United States.
In design, TOMS are based on the Argentinean alpargata, a lightweight canvas shoe worn by most Argentineans. While vacationing therein 2006, Mycoskie decided to borrow the simple yet functional design and apply it to his business gamble, a gamble that has made TOMS an internationally recognized shoe brand. Mycoskie is currently looking to expand operations outside of TOMS' home in Santa Monica, California, by opening a factory in Ethiopia.
Stopping debilitating diseases like Podoconiosis, is one of TOMS' chief points of focus. "Some children walk up to three miles to get water," Pack said. Walking barefoot on toxic soils like those found in some areas can lead to diseases which can lead to full loss of walking ability. Alike, many schools require shoes to be worn when attending school. "If they can't afford shoes," Pack said, "they can't afford an education."
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