Making a Difference At Every Age

When I spoke at the Community Leadership Awards last week in NYC, I met a gentleman named Krisha Pendyala. Krisha told me about the AMAZING project his kids, Nyan and Lehka, have been working on.

I have been telling everyone I know about this project and I hope that you guys do to…

Nyan and Lehka, ages 9 and 7, are determined to fight the terrible problem of blindness in India. There are 320,000 blind children in India – more than any other country in the world. Nyan and Lehka’s goal is raise money to support the training of eye doctors. They hope to create 5 pediatric eye care centers to screen 5 million children and provide care to 725,000. To learn more, check out this You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEGLsibDjRE

Nyan & Lekha have been working for over a year to raise money for their project “Kids for Sight”. So far, they have raised over $20,000… $1200 of which they have personally donated by sacrificing birthday presents. Talk about young people making a difference!

‘Kids for Sight’ has made it to the Top 25 out of 1,190 projects in a contest sponsored by American Express. Our goal is to help Nyan & Lekha make it into the finals. In early October, there will be another voting to determine how much each of the finalists wins ($100k to $1.5 million).

I just voted for Nyan & Lekha. It is really easy:

Step 1: Vote

To vote, go to the link below:

http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/8CEPG6

In order to vote, you must be an AMEX cardholder. If you are not, you can sign up very easily on this site.

Step 2: Tell your friends!

Encourage 4 of your friends to vote for Nyan & Lekha. Promote them on your Myspace, Facebook… use everything you got!

Step 3: Vote again in October when Nyan & Lekha make the finals.


Time is running out to vote… please do so ASAP.

Good luck Nyan & Lekha!

Charity Water

Recently I visited some of the Charity Water sites in Ethiopia and was blown away by the crisis. Tomorrow my very good friend Scott Harrison is drilling a new well inNorthern Ethiopia and you can watch it live on his website. If you don't already know what Charity Water is about, please check out their September campaign.

http://www.charitywater.org

TOMS Wrap Boot

Check out www.NoPoloWidow.com to purchase the Wrap Boot and watch the No Polo Widow film!

Back To School

I know I’ve mentioned how great our interns here at HQ are, but I also need to let you all know about our dedicated Campus Reps. TOMS Shoes has young people across the country volunteering their time to spread the word about our company. They are our High School reps and our College Reps, and they throw super Style Your Sole parties and educate their communities about One for One. The school year is about to rev up, and we already have some great Campus Reps on board for Fall. Now begins their hard work and planning to make a difference this semester. I have total faith in all of them to represent TOMS Shoes in the best way possible, and to help get more shoes on people’s feet around the world!

If you’re interested in representing TOMS on your campus, we are still accepting applications. Check out www.tomsshoes.com/jointheteam.

In a couple weeks I will be heading back to Argentina for a very special Shoe Drop. This past year, we held an internal contest for our sales reps across the country- set a goal on how many TOMS you will sell, and make it happen. A “Dash to the Drop,” we called it. Those who reached their goal have been invited on a shoe drop in Mendoza, Argentina- all expenses paid. But we even extended the offer to those who came close, because at the end of the day, the Shoe Drops are what make people truly passionate about TOMS.

Everyone who attends a Shoe Drop in Argentina has the great pleasure of befriending an incredible man whom many call my long lost brother in Argentina, but much funnier: Alejo Nitti. Alejo joined me when starting TOMS Shoes…..literally in his barn two and a half years ago, and although he was an accountant by trade and a professional polo player at the time, he soon became TOMS Shoes’ Chief Shoe Maker. While on a past-due visit to the States a couple weeks ago, Alejo resigned from this position and knighted Sean Scott (Head of Development) our new Chief Shoe Maker (yes, there was a sword present and a cape made of original TOMS fabric was worn). Alejo has taken on such a greater role to utilize his presence in Argentina. He now oversees all of the Shoe Drops there (we soon will have a Shoe Drop take place every 2 weeks, open to anyone who is passionate about TOMS!), and helps to coordinate the trips along with another fantastic gentleman, Pepe.

I can’t wait to be in Argentina with a group of incredible TOMS sales reps who are working so hard to promote our brand, and also to spend some great times with Alejo.


If you’re interested in going on a shoe drop, please click here to learn more
www.FriendsofTOMS.org

TOMS in Greece

A couple friends of mine, Carl Wescott and David Norrie, recently bought a pair of TOMS in Greece. While on vacation in Mykonos, they came across a store that carries our shoes!

Carl has been a great mentor of mine for many years now and is such an inspiring businessman. He started off as a used car salesman in Texas and became the first to offer extended warranties- people came from all over the country to buy cars from this guy! Since then he has started and sold many successful companies and has helped many entrepreneurs get off the ground. He and his wife Jimmy are like “second parents” to me, and have supported me through my ups and downs. Hopefully he is buying the purple pair for Jimmy here.

Muchas Gracias

I have to give some pretty big THANK YOU's to all the people who helped out with our event in DC last week:

Elliott Bisnow for helping with planning, his parents Margot and Mark for their incredible hospitality and opening their home to my assistant Jake, Katherine Kennedy for pulling together so many great guests, Leading Authorities: specifically Matt Jones for green-lighting the event and Don Neal for giving me such a great introduction before the screening of the film, Sharon at the City Tavern Club for providing the perfect venue and a smooth evening, Catherine Cooling for working so diligently with Jake to plan the details, and everyone who supported us by attending and enjoying the evening. This was really a stellar event and could not have been possible with a lot of great input and effort.

THANK YOU!!