At first, this idea was great. Not only did people get the shoes they needed, Toms got to write the money they donated off of their taxes and control exactly where that money went. The problem started at the end of 2010. They collected nearly $200k in 2009 then only $125k in 2010 (bad drop but not uncommon) but in 2011, they collected about $5k and donated essentially nothing. They have $125k in what they're calling "cash" assets that went no where. In the meantime, the Friends of Toms website has been taken down and every single mention of Friends of Toms has been removed from their website where it had previously been explained. What are they doing? Where will that money go? Why didn't it go to the place where it was advertised that it would go.
This is the non-profit arm of TOMS Shoes, a retail shoe company that for every pair of shoes it sells, donates a pair to needy children in places like Argentina and South Africa. They sponsor "Shoe Drops" whereby volunteers travel to the country of the drop and help deliver the shoes. I participated on a drop in Mendoza, Argentina. The organization of the drop was good, aided by an experienced in-country coordinator named Jose Luis Verdejos. The other volunteers were positive, eager and great at making the kids feel comfortable. We must have passed out over 5,000 pair of shoes to kids aged from 9 months-18 years old. We also were able to experience a lot of the cultural of Argentina, a definite bonus!