Nanaimo 7-10 Club is not only filling bellies but warming toes thanks to the help of Aspengrove students, who donated hundreds of socks this week.
Aspengrove high school students dropped off bags of more than 500 pairs of new socks on Thursday to the Nanaimo 7-10 Club.
Grade 12 students Akela Szasz, Nicolas Gunn and Sonja Ferg and Grade 11 student Maja Fellenius held a Crazy Sock Day donation drive Dec. 6, when students could sport zany socks at school while donating new pairs for those in need. Szasz said the idea came to them after they volunteered at the soup kitchen last summer and heard socks were needed.
Gunn said they knew they wanted to do a project and involve the community and “what’s more involved than wearing crazy socks?”
Szasz said they are delighted by the response, pointing out there are 300 students at the school from junior kindergarten to Grade 12.
“It’s crazy how much people got involved, because it’s easy,” she said.
Gord Fuller, chairman of the Nanaimo 7-10 Club, said socks are one of the most needed things for someone who is outdoors and walking a lot.
“Many of the people out looking for jobs and the homeless will continue to wear their socks day in and day out and they tend to wear out pretty quick, especially if you are on the street,” he said. “Not having a place to clean your clothing, they tend to go through socks quite frequently.”
He said the club will be able to give the socks out within a couple of days and make sure they go to as many people as possible.
With there being more than 500 pairs, he said people can each get two or three.
The club tries to have socks on hand for people, but with the donations, dollars it would have spent can go toward food. Fuller also said socks are needed year round, so having a stockpile really helps.
The students are encouraging others from Nanaimo schools to take initiative in the community.
news@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter