Toasty Toes — an effort to collect socks for local agencies and organizations that support people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness — has begun its first campaign in Guelph.
“Socks are one of the most needed items at shelters and often one of the least donated,” said Allison Mitchell, Toasty Toes organizer for Guelph.
The campaign was started in 2013 in Waterloo Region by Sharon Gilroy-Dreher. Mitchell said in five years it has collected over 47,000 pairs of socks.
A number of organizations will receive the socks at the end of the campaign, including HOPE House, Dunara Homes for Recovery, Wyndham House, West Willow Village, Michael House, Chalmers Community Service Centre and Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
“As the campaign starts to come to a close I will be reaching out to the agencies to figure out what their needs are,” said Mitchell. “As I get an idea of how many socks we might collect, I may reach out to other organizations.”
For the last few years, Mitchell has contributed to the Waterloo Region campaign, she said.
“I loved contributing to Sharon’s campaign, but part of me wanted to try to help the community I live in, so I talked to her and she gave me lots of encouragement and set me up with some of her resources, so this year we have launched Toasty Toes for the first time in Guelph,” said Mitchell.
“She has collected so many socks and made such an impact that it really shows how much of a difference one person can make,” she added.
The campaign will accepts brand new, packaged socks for men, women and children.
“While all socks are appreciated, we are going into the colder months so we would prefer the warmer socks,” said Mitchell.
The campaign resonates with people because socks are such a basic need, said Mitchell.
“We take socks for granted — if our feet are cold, we can go to our drawer and put more socks on. Some people don’t have that luxury. By proving a pack of socks to somebody, that can really help them from a comfort and from a health standpoint,” she said.
The campaign kicked off on Oct. 10 and it will continue to collect until Nov. 10.
Six drop off points have been set up so far, with more to be announced shortly on the campaign’s Twitter account.
The current drop off points are: Tiny Town Children’s Discovery Centre, Market Commons Convenience, Colley Insurance, West Willow Village, Smitten Apparel and Starbucks Coffee in the Stone Road Mall.
Mitchell emptied the collection box at Starbucks on Saturday to make room after 97 pairs of socks had been donated.
“It’s been amazing,” she said.
So far, two companies have contacted Mitchell to show their support in offering an employee drive to collect socks — RWDI Consulting Engineers and Scientists, as well as GM Blueplan Engineering Limited.
Mitchell said she encourages her kids to give back to the community and took her daughter shopping for socks last year to support the Waterloo Region campaign.
“Doing this campaign in Guelph and having my kids involved goes to show them how important it is to give back to people,” said Mitchell.
