TOMS One for One

On Monday, every student at Pretty Eagle Catholic Academy received their very own brand new pair of TOMS shoes. I got to witness One-for-One first hand and see how excited it made real-life kids feel.

For those who don't know, TOMS is a shoe company that started 5 years ago by a guy who wanted to get shoes to kids who had none.

"TOMS was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for one." Check them out here!

Until now, I had only heard of One for One happening in South America and Africa. I am so happy to hear that TOMS partnered with National Relief Services to bring them to reservation communities here in the U.S.

Being a proud TOMS wearer myself, I was thrilled when I saw the poster up in school announcing that TOMS would be coming. How cool- TOMS love will be spread all around school, I thought.

But it goes beyond the students just being excited about a new pair of shoes. TOMS One for One is about meeting a basic need; about working to let these kids, who are born into inequality, get off on an equal footing (Get it? shoes/footing? Okay, bad pun, but seriously...) Simply, it's about making them feel special. Feel proud of something that's their very own. And showing them that they deserve it.

One of my first graders hasn't had shoes that fit her all year. She had to wear her big sister's 4-sizes-too-big shoes or her little sister's squish-up-her-toes-too-small ones. Her new TOMS fit her perfectly and she is so proud of them. She wears them everyday. Each time I see her just-right green TOMS run by, I smile.

The kids have seen me wear my own TOMS nearly everyday, so when they heard they were going to get shoes just like mine, they were excited and thought they were legit (instead of thinking "why are we getting these funny looking shoes?") They talked about it all week- "When are we getting our shoes??" We even turned it into an impromptu math activity- I couldn't curb their chatter about which color they wanted, so I steered it into a teachable moment. We took a tally (since we just recently learned about tally marks and they love 'em) of what color each student was going to pick out.

When the day finally came, it was like Christmas. They loved their new shoes. Many of my students have worn them everyday since receiving them. They always say how comfortable they are. It makes me so happy to see a whole bunch of kids running around in their mini TOMS. (I feel like I have a bunch of little Mindful Livers running around... :) )

Just so cool to see something I have supported actually benefit kids that I serve everyday. To think that essentially the two pairs I own gave shoes to two of my own Pretty Eagle students. So awesome. Thank you, TOMS, for doing good and spreading good!