TOMS Launches Unique "TOMS Ticket to Give" Campaign by Selecting One Customer Each Week to Join the Company on its Giving Trips

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a bold move that brings together the company, its customers and its community in an inspiring new way, TOMS today launched the TOMS Ticket to Give campaign nationwide.  Only available at TOMS.com in the U.S., the online contest will find one lucky customer or fan being selected each week to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a TOMS Giving Trip.  The announcement was made today by Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver of TOMS (www.TOMS.com).

"I was inspired by the wonderment of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket," said Mycoskie.   "The greatest part of my job is going on our Giving Trips.  TOMS started this way, and these have been some of the most moving and memorable experiences in my life.   We have an unbelievably passionate community, many of whom tell us they would love to go on a TOMS Giving Trip.  So we thought, "What can we do to show them how thankful we are for them?"

Beginning on March 5, the TOMS Ticket to Give online contest is open to TOMS customers and community ages 13 and up exclusively at TOMS.com.  Mycoskie is hoping to notify each of the first several winners in person and will be joining the winners on the first several Giving Trips.

Previously available just to TOMS employees, the Giving Trips taken through the TOMS Ticket to Give program will enable winners to experience giving One for One™ first-hand.  Giving Trips are not vacations, but journeys into communities of incredible people and enormous need. They are hands-on, face-to-face journeys that, for those who are giving, are as much about personal transformation as positively impacting the lives of others.

"We want to take as many people as possible on our Giving Trips," added Mycoskie, "and The TOMS Ticket will give someone a chance to see a holistic approach to our giving.  Our hope is that our fans who win a TOMS Ticket and join us will have life-changing experiences, and they'll come back with a fresh perspective on their communities, their jobs, their lives… and the lives of others."

Giving is at the heart of TOMS' business, and the company now gives shoes to children in need in over 40 countries, and helps give sight to people in need in nine countries.  TOMS partners with humanitarian organizations that have thorough experience in the communities they serve. TOMS helps give sight in three ways by providing prescription glasses, cataract surgeries and medial treatment. The company's shoe-giving partners work to integrate new TOMS Shoes into their pre-existing health and education programs so that shoes are given to children along with other support like hygiene, education, health care or basic necessities (such as medicines, school uniforms, school supplies, clothing or vitamins).  TOMS works to build long-term giving relationships with its giving partners so that the children they serve have access to additional pairs of shoes as they grow.   Giving partners report back on the fit, durability and impact of the shoes so that TOMS can continually learn and improve its giving efforts.

About TOMS:

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One™. To date, TOMS has given over two million pairs of new shoes to children through giving partners around the world. In June 2011, TOMS launched its second One for One™ product, TOMS Eyewear, to help save and restore sight to people in need.

SOURCE TOMS