One million is a BIG number…a really BIG number. But that’s the number of toes that the nonprofit The Joy of Sox® hopes to make warm, dry and happy as a result of a mailing campaign that was conducted on September 23rd at Villanova University as part of their annual St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service.
For the mail campaign, a “package” was mailed to 204 catholic and private schools in Philadelphia, the surrounding Pennsylvania suburbs, and areas in southern New Jersey and northern Delaware. The package contains a letter to the schools suggesting they consider a sock drive as a community service project, plus a few handouts about the nonprofit.
Eliza Clark, Chief Sock Intern at Villanova, said, “We also add a nice personal touch by having students hand write an individual note and put it with the letter to the schools. The schools like the personal note.”
So where does the 1,000,000 come from? Well according to Tom Costello Jr, Chief Sock Person and Founder, “Of the 200 schools, let’s say 75% conduct a drive. No, let’s make that only 50% or 100 schools. And, if each school has a drive and collects a 1,000 pairs, that would 100,000 pair of new socks collected for the homeless!”
Costello continues, “The name is simple, but meeting this challenge will be…challenging. To give the campaign a fancy name we thought that 100,000 pairs on ten toes per person would equal one million. So the One Million Warm Dry and Happy Toes Challenge for the Homeless™ was born!”
Tom adds, “If you’re a school around Philadelphia and didn’t get a letter and want to participate please email us and we can help you get set up. Plus, any school any place can collaborate with us (The Joy of Sox)!”
Eliza and Tom wonder if, or when, they collect the 100,000 pairs whether it would be some sort of a record. But whether it’s a record or not, The Joy of Sox and their Villanova helpers, would have done a wonderful thing by helping make one million homeless toes warm, dry and happy.
The campaign runs for the entire school year and ends at the end of May 2018. And if more schools from around Philadelphia or around the nation get on board maybe the number will be a lot more than one million!
The Joy of Sox® is a Philadelphia-based 501(c )(3) nonprofit with the mission of giving joy to the homeless by giving them new socks. Their vision is to be able to give six pairs of new socks to every homeless person in the United States several times a year. Founded in 2010 they have given over 228,000 pairs of new socks to the homeless in 31 states and four countries. For more information please visit www.TheJoyOfSox.org.
