A citywide effort to gather donations of socks for Denver’s homeless population is kicking off with the third annual , which starts on “Sock It To ‘Em Work Day” on Wednesday.
Colorado community members are asked to forego socks for a day, donate a new pair of socks in their place, and sport bare ankles in support for the Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign. “Sock It To ‘Em Work Day” is intended to take on its own life and Coloradans are encouraged to create their own “Sock It To ‘Em School Day,” “Sock It To ‘Em Church Day,” or any other celebration of the cause they can come up with. The drive will be in full effect through Dec. 31.
The Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign was launched in 2011 by Susan Elizabeth Lee, CEO of EQ Media, Inc. and creator of “I Believe in Me!” When the entrepreneur recognized how many Americans face the harsh winter cold and dampness with inadequate protection for their feet, she asked her friend Phillis Shimamoto to join her in 2012 to form Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign and began soliciting fellow small business owners and community members to pitch in.
In its inaugural year, the Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign proved to be a much larger success than even Lee expected. The organization collected more than 10,000 socks, received national recognition for the cause and had participants in Maryland, Utah, Ohio, California, Arizona, Kansas, Oregon and Nevada hosting sock donation drives for their local homeless populations.
The Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign aims to cover the feet of as many of those in need as possible before the new year. Sadly, more than one-quarter of the nation’s homeless population are children who go without warm protection on their feet in the bitter winter months. The 2013 campaign aims to collect 50,000 new and gently used socks for men, women and children.
“We are amazed by the sheer number of donations last year and what a wonderful response the cause received,” Lee said. “This year, we want to encourage different parts of the community to personalize the campaign in a way that’s meaningful to them. We really just want to warm as many cold feet as we possibly can.”
Sock donations also can be mailed to Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign, Attn: Susan Elizabeth Lee,
163 Glengarry Place, Castle Rock, CO 80108
Everyone who plans to participate on Dec. 11 can take the “Sock It To ‘Em” pledge on Twitter. Tweet your comments and pictures to www.Twitter.com/SockItCampaign. Please tweet the following: “I’m going sockless to work on 12/11/13 to support Sock It To ‘Em (Work/School/Church/Etc) Day. I’ll donate a pair of new socks to the homeless. #SockItToEm”
Participants are also encouraged to connect with Sock It To ‘Em Work Day on Facebook and post images of sockless employees: https://www.facebook.com/SockItToEmCampaign.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has joined the Sock It To ‘Em Sock Campaign. (Facebook photo)
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