This May, Hillside Community Church is spearheading a sock drive to provide essential comfort and care to the homeless in our community. We’re gathering new, white, men’s athletic socks – an often overlooked but vital item that brings comfort and dignity to those in need.
Our goal is to collect 400 pairs of socks or more!
How to Participate
You can drop off donations of socks in the plastic bin on the front porch of Hillside Community Church anytime throughout the week. Or, if you’re a churchgoer, you can bring your sock donations with you to church on Sunday. At the beginning of the service, we’ll proudly add your contributions to our sock-o-meter (pronounced sok-AHM-iter), a visual tracker of our community’s impact. Help us fill the sock-o-meter each week and reach our goal of warming the feet – and hearts – of our unhoused neighbors.
Why Socks?
There are approximately 1,545 people experiencing homelessness in the Greater Boston area. Astonishingly, nearly two-thirds of these individuals are also suffering from foot-related ailments. In the cold and wet of New England’s climate, it’s impossible for those who spend most of their days outdoors to keep their feet warm and dry. This leads to skin infections, nail diseases, frostbite and trench foot. Having a pair of clean, dry socks to change into is the best prevention.
A Hands-On Approach to Helping
At Hillside, we aim to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” In keeping with these words, once our sock drive concludes, we will organize volunteer groups to distribute the collected socks directly to our unhoused neighbors, along with something to eat and drink. This hands-on approach will allow us to meet those we serve, share a moment of human connection, and see the direct impact of our collective effort.
If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form below:
