TOMS Shoes X LA’s Best After School Program Event!

To make an impact on the world, we have to be the change we’d want to see. Aligning with the visionaries and having similar goals in mind is an excellent way to be proactive. Being a TOMS shoe ambassador and a supporter of other youth-based charities, we jumped at the opportunity to volunteer at the latest TOMS giving event in LA.
TOMS shoes teamed up with LA’s Best, after school program, for an extraordinary giving event at a local LA elementary school. The LA’s Best program provides a safe and supervised after school education, enrichment, and recreation program for students ages 5 to 12 in the City of Los Angeles. The giving partners are a valuable part of TOMS One for One™ movement.
The knowledgeable staff from LA’s Best walked us through the regular program’s daily schedule they have set up and gave us a back story of how the strategy came to be.
It was fascinating and such an honor to sit through the process from the classrooms with the kids to the playground. After the giving, we played games with the kids in their new TOMS shoes. These kids were so incredibly smart, they schooled everyone at trivia activities. The experience was one of the most astonishing memories.
The staff of LA’s Best was so passionate about their job; you could tell the impact of the program has positively affected their lives. A few members of the staff were alumni from the after-school program as well and were able to attend college. They saw the educational impact it had on their lives, and they wanted to pay it forward in their neighborhood. The shoes are part of the solution in these communities, not the whole solution. It’s inspiring to hear the stories of the staff members. They shared with us the fact that some of the kids we met will go off to homeless shelters after they leave the school day. You couldn’t differentiate the demographic of the children in the crowd. All the kids we’re happy to be with their friends and the staff had a family feel. The kids were all very excited to have the TOMS team and volunteers on campus. Big thanks to TOMS and LA’s Best for hosting the event! If you’d like to learn more about the program, please check out the websites below to show your support.