REAP and Partner CEEE Become "Giving Partners" of TOMS Shoes, LLC

On November 1, REAP and REAP's partner organization, the Center for Experimental Economics in Education (CEEE) at Shaanxi Normal University, became official Giving Partners of TOMS Shoes, LLC. TOMS adheres to a "One for One" philosophy, and is committed to donating one pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair of shoes purchased. This partnership with TOMS is a novel attempt to deliver shoes to children in Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Guizhou, and other rural areas.

TOMS contacted REAP and CEEE after hearing about REAP's history of carrying out large-scale research across rural China, as highlighted by REAP and CEEE distributing eyeglasses to more than 4,700 students (for our Seeing is Learning research project) and providing infant nutrition packets to 1,000 infants (as part of our Baby Nutrition research project). REAP and CEEE's field team will give over 120,000 pairs of TOMS shoes in conjunction with ongoing research projects in the area.