Sarah Ford | June 10, 2015

TOMS Shares Shoes, Friendship in Nicaragua

In the Palo Verde community in Nicaragua, kids are growing and thriving… and so is fresh produce, thanks to a new garden that was recently planted as a result of a generous donation from an individual who visited the community recently.

With this gift, Feed the Children personnel were able to purchase tools, soil, compost, recycling bottles, hoses and pipes to create a small irrigation system. Students from the local school are tending the garden, which currently features onions and tomatoes, with plans to grow cassava. Children as young as seven are weeding, harvesting, and learning sustainable livelihoods—and are able to eat the fruits of their labor as well!

The community is also benefiting from a new submersible water pump to access fresh water. Up to this point the school has had to rely on the kindness of a local family, who granted access to their well, but were only able to do so for certain hours of the day. Now the school can rely on its own source of water, 365 days a year.

Last month a group from TOMS traveled to Nicaragua for a Giving Trip. The TOMS family includes a network of Shoe Giving Partners around the world and they host these trips to give their team members an opportunity to see the impact they are making and distribute shoes, learn about a Giving Partner, and experience the countries and communities they serve. The TOMS team was able to see Palo Verde firsthand, and we asked one of them to share her experiences in her own words.

>> Continue Reading

>> Support Feed the Children

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Explore More Articles

Celebrating Juneteenth and Continuing to Work in Solidarity for Racial Justice, Equality, and Equity

June 9, 2026

June 19 — also known as Juneteenth, or the nation’s second Independence Day — commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, and therefore the nation,…

Is Your Company Ready to Launch a Scholarship Program This Fall?

June 9, 2026

Here’s What You Need to Know Now is the ideal time for companies to partner with a scholarship administrator – here’s why and how to…

How Much Money Does Your Company’s Emergency Assistance Fund Actually Need?

May 20, 2026

Setting up an Employee Assistance Fund (EAF) is one of the most practical ways to support employees during times of crisis. One of the first…

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Receive our monthly/bi-monthly newsletter filled with information about causes, nonprofit impact, and topics important for corporate social responsibility and employee engagement professionals, including disaster response, workplace giving, matching gifts, employee assistance funds, volunteering, scholarship award program management, grantmaking, and other philanthropic initiatives.

newsletter-mock