TOMS Giving Partner Children International celebrates giving nearly 3 million pairs of shoes

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media@children.org

Kansas City, MO (May 5, 2016) As the annual event One Day Without Shoes approaches, Children International is celebrating giving nearly 3 million pairs of shoes to kids in need and three years as a TOMS Giving Partner.

Children International (CI) is proud to partner with TOMS and its One for One® model to give new shoes to children in the impoverished areas CI serves. By the end of 2016, this partnership will have resulted in more than 3 million pairs of TOMS Shoes being distributed to children in need. These shoes do several things for CI’s kids and their families:

  1. The shoes protect children’s feet from harmful debris and contaminated soil.
  2. In many parts of the world, TOMS Shoes meet school requirements for thousands of kids. Where the shoes do not meet school requirements, they help kids by providing an extra pair for other extracurricular activities.
  3. Shoes help ease the financial burden on CI’s families who may not have the means to provide basic necessities like shoes for their kids.

The distribution of shoes is just one part of CI’s holistic child development program framework, which focuses on helping children and youth become healthy, educated, empowered and (ultimately) employed so that they can break the cycle of poverty.

TOMS Giving Partner Children International provides shoes to kids in need. | Download image

One Day Without Shoes on May 10 is a day to raise awareness of children’s health and education issues and the important role that shoes play in helping kids. Going without shoes allows participants to experience the importance of proper footwear. It is also a conversation starter, allowing participants to bring awareness to issues surrounding children’s health and education. And, for this year’s day of awareness, TOMS will be giving away a pair of shoes for every unique photo of bare feet shared on Instagram using #withoutshoes up to 10,000 shoes for 10 different countries.

Employees at CI’s headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, will go without shoes on May 10 and will participate in a variety of activities that help educate participants on the importance of adequate footwear. Additionally, CI employees are hosting a shoe drive to benefit two local nonprofits – Operation Breakthrough and Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association.

These girls in Zambia are excited about their TOMS Shoes. | Download image

Learn more about TOMS and Children International.

Downloadable resources

  • Shoes help protect children’s feet from harmful debris and contaminated soil.

    download image
  • TOMS Giving Partner Children International provides shoes to kids in need. 

    Download image
  • These girls in Zambia are excited about their TOMS Shoes. 

    Download image

About Children International
Children International is a top-rated humanitarian organization focused on ending poverty by helping children and youth. We take a holistic approach to our programs and work through local professional staff at each of our 70+ community centers worldwide. Our goal is that each child graduates from our program healthy, educated, employed and empowered to break the cycle of poverty.

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