Give us your socks, oh people of Guelph. Preferably new, warm ones.
The Guelph and District Labour Council is once again holding a sock drive this holiday season. It is looking preferably for new, warm socks for the homeless and marginalized in our city.
Janice Folk-Dawson, president of the council, said there is always a need, especially during the cold season, for warm, clean socks on the feet of those in need.
“I think we started it three years ago, and it is something we do over the Christmas Holiday period,” Folk-Dawson said. “We recognized there was a need in our community for the gathering of socks.”
She said nurses working at the street-level were encountering incidents of foot rot among those who were under-housed or homeless. The health problem was a direct result of a lack of warm, dry socks.
“We figured there was a really easy way to solve that, and so we started doing our Soup, Socks, Songs and Skates events in front of Guelph City Hall,” she said. “We used it as our December labour council meeting, going out into the community and doing this.”
The first year, she said, was a huge success. Many, many pairs of socks were collected and distributed to a number of local social agencies that work with the homeless, she said, including the Welcome In Drop-in Centre, 40 Baker Street, and a number of neighbourhood groups. The effort also welcomes hats, mittens, and hoodies donations.
“We saw that the response was so positive,” Folk-Dawson added. “It was a real issue, and something that was very easy for the different labour council affiliates to gather socks and bring them on that day.”
That day this year will be Thursday, Dec. 8 at 4:30 p.m., not in front of city hall, but instead at 40 Baker Street because of the need for a working kitchen and the ability to bring big pots of soup to the event. The labour council office is on the second floor of the building.
The council has a float in Sunday’s Santa Claus Parade. It will include a sack for sock donations, and leaflets encouraging donations and promoting the Dec. 8 event will be passed out.
The public is welcome to attend the event. Musicians will be on hand to offer festive tunes.
“New pairs of warm socks would be absolutely incredible,” she added.
For more information call the labour council at 519-823-1030, or drop by 40 Baker Street with your donation.
