Throughout the month of October, the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) will be hosting SOCKtober, a sock collection drive to benefit the kids taking part in CCE’s Holiday Helper program.
Holiday Helper is an annual program that provides gifts for hundreds of children in the local community. Illinois State University students, faculty, and staff sponsor children and purchase gifts to make their holiday all the more special.
“Last year, we had over 250 children sponsored for CCE’s Holiday Helper program, and almost every single child asked for socks,” said Annie Weaver, assistant director at the CCE. “New socks provide so many benefits to kids.”
With the socks collected during SOCKtober, these local children will all automatically receive this necessity and will be able to ask for something else on their wish list. Good, clean socks help prevent many health conditions such as frost bite, infections from fungi or heat, poor circulation, and so much more.
Following the Holiday Helper program, extra adult socks will also be donated to Home Sweet Home Ministries.
All sizes and all styles of socks are needed, infant through adult. Donations of new, in-package socks can be dropped off at CCE (300 W. North St. in Normal) during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., throughout the month of October.
To help collect as many donations as possible, CCE is also partnering with Illinois State’s Panhellenic Council on the event. There will be 13 chapters collecting socks this month.
“I have asked each chapter if they would be interested in having a ‘dress down’ chapter meeting in October,” said Panhellenic Vice President of Philanthropy Livi Frullani. “Normally, each chapter asks their members to dress up each week for their chapter meeting. To dress down for chapter, each person would have to bring a new pack of socks.”
While all donations are encouraged, the Panhellenic Council also felt it was important to know and understand the importance of the collection.
“I will be providing a short PowerPoint presentation that each chapter president will give, educating members on why socks are such a high need in the community,” said Weaver.
“My freshman year, I volunteered for the Holiday Helper event where the Center for Civic Engagement puts together gifts to give children in the Bloomington-Normal area,” said Frullani. “Seeing how many children asked for socks instead of toys broke my heart, and I knew our community could help.”
