Why Sight
TOMS’ customers have given us the amazing honor of putting new shoes on children’s feet with every pair they have purchased. While giving some of these shoes to children in need, Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, was struck by the poverty in many of the communities he was serving. He saw so many basic human needs that were still unmet.
Blake immediately recognized the incredible power of One for One™, and came to a startling conclusion: TOMS could be more than a shoe company – it should be a One for One™ company. With so many different needs around the world, he felt TOMS had an obligation to try to improve as many lives as possible.
The first step in this new chapter of TOMS is sight. We started here because sight is a fundamental need. The loss of sight has a dramatic impact on a person’s life – and on his or her family and community.
With our eyewear line, One for One™ means more than just giving eyeglasses. While prescription eyeglasses are a part of the holistic eye care TOMS supports, we have learned that people’s needs can be quite different. We’ve set up our approach to be able to address the most widespread needs. So one person buys a pair of TOMS glasses, and one person receives the eye care that he or she needs.
We deliver that care through partnerships with expert eye care organizations on the ground, which makes sense since we wouldn’t dare to pass ourselves off as eye care professionals. With our support, our Sight Giving Partners organize screenings right in the community to identify the people who need care.
