TOMS Announces Its "TOMS Ticket to Give 2013" Online Contest to Invite 50 Winners to Join the Company In Its Giving Trips

-- Held Only at TOMS.com, Lucky Contestants Will Help TOMS Giving Partners Deliver the One for One™ Experience to Children in Need Around the World

PLAYA VISTA, California, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, TOMS announced its TOMS Ticket to Give 2013 online global contest enabling the public the opportunity to join the company on its Giving Trips this year.

"With the success of our Ticket to Give program last year, we wanted to find an even bigger and better way to seek out new participants this year," said Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS. "We have an incredibly passionate community and we can't wait to hear about why they would want to join us on a TOMS Giving Trip."

The contest, which runs through March 4, 2013, asks participants to submit essay entries of 100 words and photos describing why they deserve a "Ticket to Give."  The general public and TOMS will determine the winners through online voting between March 4 and April 12, 2013 and the top 50 most-voted entries will be announced on April 22.  The contest is open to TOMS customers and global community ages 13 and up exclusively at www.TOMS.com/ticket-to-give.

Previously available only to TOMS employees, Giving Trips to be taken through the TOMS Ticket to Give program will provide winners with the 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 TOMS fans as possible on our Giving Trips," added Mycoskie, "and the TOMS Ticket will give 50 people 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 13 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 medical 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.

CONTACT: Allison Dominguez, allison@toms.com, +1-818-974-8258