Saturday, April 11, 2009

Connectedness--Power to Change the World


You’ve probably heard the saying that we are all six people away from knowing everyone in this world. Just this past year I met someone who is good friends with Chuck Norris’s mom, a person who has a friend that is related to Osama Benladen, and the neighbor of  Randy Owen from the country band Alabama. Through the people we know, and they people that they know, we could be connected to all 6.8 billion people on this earth.

Right now you may be thinking “Well that is neat Becky. But why should I really care?”

You should care because of this fact’s power.

For example…

Yesterday I was sitting in my boss’s office when one of my friends, Ashley, walked entered. Being a girl, I naturally looked down at her shoes (yes, I know, don’t make fun of my feminine behaviors).

“Are those TOMs Ashley?!"

“YEA! You have any, because if not you totally need to get some!”

With a confused face, my boss interrupted “What are these TOM shoes?”

 

Ashley then went on to tell us in the office about how TOM shoes is a company created to provide footwear for children in third world countries. TOM Shoes have a “One for One” philosophy. For every pair of shoes purchased, they provide a pair of shoes to a child in need.

 

I had heard about TOM shoes before, yet never really took the action to go online and order a pair. Seeing Ashley sporting her canvas green TOMS reminded me that this is something I had been wanting to do for some time. On their website (www.tomeshoes.com) it talks about how 4 out of the 6 billion people in this world live in conditions unthinkable to most.

A man named Black Mycoskie traveled to Argentina and found that many of the children there had no shoes. In order to reach food, water, and medical care they would often walk many miles barefoot. It was after Black’s experience in Argentina that he grouped together a group to create the TOM Shoes company. Today, TOM Shoes has delivered over 140,000m pairs of shoes to those in need. In 2009 their goal is to reach 300,000 shoes.

How is TOM Shoes going to be able to reach this goal to help our world’s children? Two words, our connectedness. When one person buys a pair of TOM shoes, they have the capability to wear that pair and share the story with their friends and family. Just as Ashley caught my eye and encouraged me to buy a pair of TOMS, you can do the same. If we are all truly six people away from knowing everyone in this world, why don’t we use that statistic to the advantage of others?  Why don’t we use our connections to others to serve those in more need than ourselves?

Just today, after doing my research, I have ordered my first pair of TOM shoes! They should be arriving to my house later this week, and when they do, you better believe I will be sporting the fashion of service and spreading the word!

Thank you to Ashley, and ALL those who use the power of our interwoven lives to promote the importance of helping others. All of us in this world, no matter our heritage, language, color, or demographic location, are connected somehow. Make the choice to serve our brothers and sisters, even in the smallest ways. Who knows, it could all start with a pair of shoes. J

1 comment:

  1. Sweet stuff. I have a pair of TOMs as well. I love my TOMs. :-)

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