Looking around the halls of Orono High School this year you will notice a new trend of shoes called TOMS. This trend started to appear last year and has recently become more popular. These shoes are not only comfortable and stylish, but they are a part of a charity with a good cause making students want to buy them.

Junior Olivia Gilbertson agreed, “TOMS are really comfortable shoes and I love that when you buy one pair one is donated to kids in need. It makes me feel good when I buy them.”

Blake Mycoskie created TOMS after he traveled to Argentina in 2006. He noticed that the people in Argentina had no shoes and wanted to do something to help them out.
He decided to start a company with a “One for One” motto. This means that for every pair of shoes purchased, a pair of new shoes is given to a child in need.
“Giving is what fuels us. Giving is our future,” Mycoskie once said. A lot of people would agree with that quote and the message is what makes us want to support the TOMS Company.

Not only do TOMS sell shoes, but also every spring TOMS has hosts a campaign called One Day Without Shoes where people go barefoot for a day to see what it is like to live without shoes. Mycoskie has made TOMS become a successful company over the past five years.

As of Sept. 2010 the company has given over a million pairs of new shoes to children in 20 different countries worldwide. The company has even expanded to selling things other than shoes like apparel and eye wear. You can help with this effort by visiting the TOMS Website www.toms.com.

Kristen Kocsis is a Staff Reporter for the Spartan Speaks