I'm excited to announce the winners of the Gift of Tom's contest this morning.

On Monday, I posted that the good people at Lanksy 126 had given me two pairs of Tom's shoes to give away. Given that it's the holiday season, in order to win, you had to leave a comment telling me who you would give the shoes to if you won.

More than 40 of you entered, and I loved reading all of the comments. You guys are super generous (and you have some very deserving friends and family members), and I hate that I can only pick two winners.

So, without further ado, let's meet the winners.

The winner of the ladies' Tom's is Mary, who plans to give them to a friend. Here's what she wrote:

"I would give them to my dear friend.  Her husband lost his job on the day after Thanksgiving due to downsizing.  A few days after that I took her to lunch and noticed that she has a small hole in the sole of her Tom's shoe.  She loves those shoes and wears them all the time.  I didn't say anything about it to her, but I know she won't be able to purchase new shoes until her husband finds a new job.  I would love to be able to give her a pair of new shoes."

And the winner of the guy's pair is Kadye, who plans to give them to her brother:

"If I win, I will give them to my brother. When we were younger we had typical sibling squabbles but then he joined the Air Guard during a time of war and after completing his training and a year of duty in other countries (including the middle east), became a full-time student to become a youth pastor while staying in the Guard. He is always there for our family and takes such good care of our mother making sure bills are all paid and the house is taken care of. I’m so incredibly proud of him and I hope he knows it."

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who shared stories. Here's hoping that you and yours get everything you want this holiday season.