Campaign collecting socks to warm those in need
By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on November 20, 2024.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Gail Petrie, campaign founder and Charlene Kocken, senior systems navigator at Nord-Bridge Senior Centre are hoping the community helps them fill up the campaign drop-off box many times in preparation for Sock Mountain next month.LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
With temperatures quickly falling many find themselves in need of warm socks and to be able to help those in need the Sock It To ‘Em campaign is once again collecting socks across the city and beyond.
Campaign founder Gail Petrie told the Herald Tuesday that even though the campaign started 23 years ago with students in mind to be able to provide them warm socks in the winter, it has expanded to help other vulnerable groups.
“This will be our 24th year and we have collected up to this point approximately 186,000 pairs of socks. Socks can be collected at all schools, including the separate school system, Lethbridge School District 51 and Palliser,” said Petrie.
 She explained that the socks collected at Palliser schools which includes schools in Coaldale, Taber and Coalhurst, will remain in those communities to be distributed among their needy.
Those collected in schools across the city will be distributed to the YWCA Lethbridge Harbour House, LFS Angel Tree Campaign, Woods Homes, Streets Alive, the homeless shelter, Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre and schools who require socks for their students.
Charlene Kocken, senior systems navigator at Nord-Bridge Senior Centre, said socks have started to trickle in and the collection box is starting to fill up, slowly but surely.
“We’re right in the middle of getting it going. We’d like to really see the community pull together and we’d like to have more socks,” said Kocken.
 She said last year they collected approximately 5,000 socks to create their annual “Sock Mountain” but she is hoping for a bigger mountain this year, as the need continues to increase.
 “My hope and Gail’s hope is that we get a bigger mountain of socks than last year. We’d like to see 6,000 pairs this year,” said Kocken.
 She explained that various organizations that received socks last year were very appreciative of the socks and were able to help many keep their toes warm last winter.
 “We had some really cold months, so it was nice that we got the socks, mittens and toques as well,” said Kocken.
She said she is working with some seniors at the moment that would greatly benefit from receiving some warm socks, gloves, scarfs and hats.
“Sock it to ’em has evolved to include other warm items of clothing like scarfs, gloves and hats and they are accepted here at the centre,” said Kocken.
Petrie added that even though she is aware of the financial situation of many she continues to be amazed by the support the community continues to offer to those less fortunate than them.
“Every year I keep thinking about how prices have gone up and people are struggling for groceries and things like that and it just amazes me that we still get this amount of donations, it shows that people have big hearts in Lethbridge,” said Petrie.
The deadline for dropping off socks either at Nord-Bridge or the schools that are collecting them is Dec. 7 and Sock Mountain will be built on Dec. 12 for agencies to stop by and collect what they need from it at 1 p.m.
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