2013年10月12日 10:58 来源：中国经济网
What does a pair of brand new TOMS canvas shoes mean? What can love change? For those kids in the mountains, their shoes are their partners on the mountain trails and companion of their childhood happiness. A pair of shoes brings school and home closer and carries numerous hopes and dreams for them.
TOMS was founded by Blake Mycoskie in California in 2006. With its “One for One” concept, TOMS is committed to deliver a pair of free and new shoes to a child in need for every sale of its shoes. By working together with Giving Partners such as YouChange, TOMS is integrating its shoes delivery with child nutrition health, education and community development projects of its Giving Partners. In 2013, TOMS announced that, with assistance of its Giving Partners, it has delivered ten million pairs of free and new shoes to children in need around the world.
YouChange has been a Giving Partner of TOMS in China since 2011. In light of neo-philanthropy, the two sides have been working together for children’s dreams. Their partnership now delivered canvass shoes to kids in Sichuan, Guangxi, Hubei, Yunnan, Hebei and Ningxia. In the past two years, YouChange volunteer stations have made a lot of efforts in assessing needs, distributing shoes, collecting information and promoting community building in this project.
Guided by neo-philanthropy, YouChange keeps exploring new cooperation models and works together with many businesses committed to their corporate social responsibility. This has not only expanded the influence of these businesses in the charity community, but also put in place a platform across urban and rural areas and across China and other countries in poverty reduction. In 2013-2014, YouChange-TOMS partnership will deliver shoes to poor children in more areas in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai.
In partnership with TOMS, YouChange is responsible for shoes distribution and coordination. It is worth noting that YouChange put much emphasis not only on giving, but also on spiritual support and spread of neo-philanthropy. This project and other YouChange projects support each other, which helps improve children’s health, narrow urban-rural divide in education, and build good character. It also lays a solid foundation for local volunteer stations to carry out other projects such as micro credit, the Evergreen Volunteer Teaching, community development and NGO capacity building. TOMS has fully demonstrated its professionalism and its commitment to poverty reduction in China have been well recognized.
YouChange pays close attention to project assessment. According to the agreement, it has provided feedback information to the donor and the recipients in a timely and efficient fashion. For the recipients, this project has met the needs of children and it has been well received among local households and families. Lu Liangpeng, a 12-year-old boy in Xiji County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, told us that his pair of TOMS canvass shoes was very fit and fashionable. “I put on the shoes immediately and felt very excited. After school, all of us dashed to home with our new shoes”, he said. Lu’s grandma told us that her family was poor and she made Lu’s shoes by herself. It took her a lot of time and, sometimes, the shoes were not fit. Now, Lu liked his new shoes so much that he wore them every day and brush his shoes before he went to bed every night. Feedback information from YouChange was well received by TOMS. Rather than just one color for its shoes this year, TOMS will add three more color choices for Chinese kids in 2014.
Charity knows no borders. The Giving Partner model between YouChange and TOMS has proved to be a good channel between a NGO and a business in sharing resources and conducting cooperation. Their partnership has promoted integrated urban-rural development and met the needs of children. It is expected their cooperation will be further expanded so that more poor households will benefit from their social commitment.
