It’s the holiday season, and this time of year makes me feel very nostalgic as well as thankful for all that I have. I am fortunate to have a lovely home, an amazing husband and wonderful family to surround me. We have our health and happiness, and then there are those who have none of this, not even a pair of shoes.

I was never a fan of TOMS Shoes, but recently I took another look and decided that they are actually cute and making the world a better place. It all started in 2006 when Blake Mycoskie was in Argentina and met some of the children there. He was so touched by their stories and the fact that they had no shoes that he wanted to do make a difference. In creating TOMS Shoes, the company matches every pair of shoes sold with a pair for a child in need. He calls it One for One. After his initial visit, he returned later in the year with 10,000 pairs of shoes to be given all thanks to the warmhearted TOMS Shoes customer.

A lot of people want to know WHY the shoes, but it’s quite simple. In developing countries, most children grow up barefoot and live their daily lives with no shoes. That includes going to school and playing. Being barefoot exposes the children to diseases that live in the soil, a common problem in these countries.  Another reason is that if children have no shoes they cannot go to school. Shoes are a part of the school uniform and if you have no uniform then there is no school. No school means not being able to live up to your potential. Did you ever realize the importance of shoes from this perspective?

So this holiday season, instead of making some rash purchase on another pair of stilettos that you don’t need save your feet and purchase a pair of TOMS Shoes for yourself and feel good about where the other pair will go.

Visit http://www.toms.com for more information

-Jessica Brown