The founder of the buy-one-give-one-away shoe brand TOMS has announced a $5million donation to groups calling for stricter gun laws.
Blake Mycoskie announced the largest corporate gift to the cause of ending gun violence during an appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday.
He told Fallon that he was motivated to launch the campaign after the November 7 shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California.
TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday
He grew emotional as he talked about his efforts to help end gun violence in America
Mycoskie announced the largest corporate gift to the cause of ending gun violence – $5million – which will be split among several organizations
Twelve people were killed in the shooting.
He told Fallon: ‘My wife called me, and she was scared, and she said, “I’m not taking our son to school today. This happened two weeks ago in a synagogue, and a yoga studio, and someone has to do something about it”.’
Mycoskie was referring to the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue on October 27, which left 11 people dead.
On November 2, a man walked into a yoga studio in Tallahassee and killed two women before turning the gun on himself.
Mycoskie said the impetus for the gift was the spate of recent shootings, including the mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California on November 7. Thirteen people, including the gunman, were killed
Mycoskie said that after he got off the phone with his wife, he thought to himself: ‘You know what? Dammit, we’re going to do something about it.’
Mycoskie will donate $5million which will be shared among organizations including Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, March for Our Lives, and others.
He says these groups are ‘the most amazing organizations who are working hard on the ground every day to end gun violence.’
The TOMS website even has a feature where anyone can sign up online and have a physical postcard sent to their representatives in Congress demanding legislation to curb gun violence.
The postcards urge representatives to pass universal background checks for prospective gun owners.
TOMS is a Los Angeles-based company which Mycoskie founded in 2006.
It sells canvas slip-on shoes that are commonly worn in Argentina.
He was motivated to found the company after he traveled to the South American country and noticed many children did not have shoes.
TOMS’s business model is such that for every pair of shoe it sells, it gives a new pair to a needy child.
So far, Mycoskie says his company has handed out 86 million pairs of shoes.