PHOTO: TOMS Shoes
As you likely already know, we are currently asking readers like you to cast your votes in our Top 100 Men on 2009, celebrating the year’s hottest men, in TV, film, music, sports, politics, and more. To get to know some of the candidates a bit more, we’re going to be hilighting a few of the men here on our blog. Yesterday, we told you a little about Neil Patrick Harris. Today, we’ll let you get to know TOMS Shoes founder, Blake Mycoskie.
Mycoskie is more than just a shoe designer; he is a philanthropist who decided to make a difference in the world. After a trip to Argentina in 2006, Mycoskie developed his now-popular canvas shoe from the Argentinian alpargata model. And knowing that children in Argentina (and other third world countries) work and/or go to school without adequate footwear–which leads to health risks–Mycoskie started the One for One campaign: for every pair of shoes sold, a pair is given to a child in a third world nation. So far, over 140,000 pairs of canvas shoes have been given to children in nations like Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa, and even to kids in the United States.
More recently in 2009, as part of the Clinton Global Initiative, TOMS Shoes aimed to give 100,000 pairs of shoes to children in Haiti.
For more on what Mycoskie’s been up to and to learn more about his various initiatives, be sure to check out his blog: http://blakemycoskie.blogspot.com/.
Want to vote for Blake, as well as our other men of 2009? Click here, and check back soon for another profile on one of our other candidates.
