The Bite Magazine Issue 17

x The Hill-Side The ONE for ONE Concept From travelling through Argentina to providing shoes for children in need, and other charitable actions, Fiona James learns about the philanthropy spirit of founder Blake Mycoskie and his TOMS collaboration with The Hill-Side. I t was while travelling through Argen- tina in 2006 that Blake Mycoskie, founder of the TOMS brand wit- nessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes that moved him to take action. Instead of setting up a charity to help these children and others like them, he decided to create a for-profit business that was sustainable and not reliant on donations. Through the ‘One for One’ model which helps a person in need with every product purchased, Mycoskie has provided over 60 million pairs of shoes to children since 2006, his TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to over 400,000 people since 2011 and his TOMS Roasting Company has helped to provide over 335,000 weeks of safe water since launching in 2014. A year later, the TOMS Bag Collection was founded to help provide training for skilled birth attendants and distribute birth kits containing everything a woman needed to safely deliver her baby. As of this year, TOMS has supported safe births services for over 25,000 mothers. TOMS may be a for-profit brand but their ethos is about investing in people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to wear shoes, have their eyesight restored, supplies of clean drinking water or the safe deliveries of babies. Mycoskie has always had an entrepre- neurial spirit and started five businesses before he established TOMS, the first being a successful campus laundry service which he later sold. He com- pleted in the CBS primetime series The Amazing Race in which he and his sister Paige travelled the world and came within minutes of winning the $1 million dollar grand prize. As an avid reader and bite men