Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Life’s most important question: What are you doing for others?”
Cabrini Rocks for Socks was an event that was held as part of the Day of Service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19. About 20 students came together and sorted and packed pairs of socks for the homeless. “There were opportunities to participate in community service projects in Norristown and on campus with the Office of Student Diversity,” Stephanie Reed, director of student diversity, said. Reed coordinated two service projects for students to take part in on campus and the Joy of Sox was one of them.
“Events like this build community and gives staff the opportunity to work with our wonderful students and interact with colleagues,” Maureen Catania, assistant to vice president for academic affairs, said.
Tom Costello, Jr., chief sock person, said that there were ”5,804 pairs of new socks for the homeless!”
The Joy of Sox is a nonprofit organization that simply provides socks for the homeless. The organization was founded by Tom Costello, Jr. in 2010 and the organization has distributed over 134,325 pairs of socks to the Greater Philadelphia area as well as other local areas to those in need.
Although the organization primarily focuses on the Philadelphia regions, Costello’s work has impressively reached out to numerous other states and even internationally. They have reached Afghanistan at a Marine installation, Mexico at Zapatos Para Los Ninos: Isla Mujeres and an orphanage in Uganda known as Kampala.
The service of donating socks may not be something that one may immediately think that the homeless are in need of, but its importance is definite. Just by not wearing socks, one can receive bunions, pedal exostosis, boney prominences, and calluses amongst many other very painful issues due to the result of irritations from friction. Not only are there health benefits but there are also personal benefits such as appearing presentable at a job interview, helping a homeless child to fit in at school as well as feeling a sense of comfort and security to these homeless or less fortunate individuals.
“Tom Costello explained that most people donate used coats, clothes, hats, gloves and shoes but do not necessarily think to donate socks,” Catania said. “The need for socks amongst the homeless is great and I hope we continue to support this effort.”
“Over the next few weeks, those socks will be delivered to shelters in the area and help warm the toes of the grateful homeless,” Costello said. The organization looks forward to a collaboration in the future with Cabrini students due to their great amount of help for such an important cause.
