Ambassador

Ambassador Event

AMBASSADOR WAYNE DONATES "ALPARGATAS" AT MARGARITA BARRIENTOS' COMMUNITY KITCHEN
January 7, 2008

Margarita Barrientos, Earl Anthony Wayne, Alejo Nitti and Blake Mycoskie at Los Piletones Kitchen

Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne donated “alpargatas” on January 7 at Margarita Barrientos’ community kitchen Los Piletones in Villa Soldati. The event was organized by the U.S. company Toms Shoes (Shoes for Tomorrow). Toms Shoes provided each child  with a pair of shoes from their company.      

The Ambassador met Blake Mycoskie and Alejo Nitti, founders of Toms Shoes – a company whose designs are inspired by the traditional Argentine “alpargatas” slip-on shoes. The company’s mission is to match every pair of shoes purchased in exclusive shops in Los Angeles, New York, London or on their website with a donated pair to a child in need.

Ambassador Wayne highlighted the importance of volunteer work and the existing cooperation between non-government organizations of the United States and Argentina.

“Toms Shoes is based on a corporate culture of strong social responsibility. It is great to see how voluntary work brings US and Argentine citizens together generating not only benefits for those most in need but also greater mutual understanding,” said the Ambassador. Ambassador Wayne also expressed admiration for the work Margarita Barrientos and her family carry out to feed 1,600 people daily, in addition to providing health and day care nursery services. The foundation has also a small library. 

"The work of Mrs. Barrientos and her family is something laudable and deserves all our support and admiration," – said the Ambassador. Mrs. Barrientos gave the Ambassador and his team a tour around the facility she and her collaborators have developed during the past eleven years to support the community. Mrs. Barrientos explained how people from Argentina and from other parts of the world have contributed to sustain and advance this project. 

Ambassador Wayne, Mycoskie, Nitti, Barrientos and many other volunteers, including an actress from the TV series “Lost” Margaret Grace Denig and a group of volunteers from  Price WaterHouse Coopers, personally delivered the “alpargatas” to children attending the community kitchen.

“It is important to strengthen and increase this kind of joint effort. Toms Shoes has informed me that they are planning to donate shoes on a monthly basis in the future. To achieve this goal, they will recruit Argentine volunteers and U.S. citizen, living in Argentina or coming for tourism,” Ambassador said. “People-to-people ties are the best way to strengthen bilateral relations between our countries and our people,” he added.

Today’s donation by Toms Shoes was the second in Argentina. During the first summer of its operation, the company sold their first 10,000 pairs of shoes. In October 2006, Toms donated 10,000 pairs of shoes to children in the Greater Buenos Aires area and in the province of Misiones.  In November 2007, Toms traveled to South Africa to donate 50,000 shoes. Toms Shoes was awarded the 2007 “People’s Design Award” presented by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York for their business model based on a socially responsible and innovative entrepreneurship.  Blake Mycoskie participated in the Clinton Global Initiative where he shared his novel business model with the rest of the participants and partnered with US rock/pop  music group Hanson in support of the idea of donating shoes to children in need.