When the young men and women at CSC YouthBuild AmeriCorps asked the homeless in Lebanon what they needed, the reply was socks.
“We thought they would need a lot of food or something to help take care of their dogs,” Kristin Duncan said. However the young adults found that homeless individuals near Gill’s Landing had plenty of donated clothing and food. When people donate clothing to the less fortunate, socks are often overlooked.
“They said the feeling they get from putting on a new pair of socks is like the feeling you get at Christmas, like the new car smell,” Jon Roosa said. “It makes you feel warm and comfortable.” The homeless go through a lot of socks because they walk a lot, Roosa said. “And they have no place to wash their socks,” Duncan added.
The YouthBuild sock drive started on Feb. 12 and will continue through March 11. So far it hasn’t been going very well, Brian Christie said. But the group is not discouraged as it tries to get the word out and more drop boxes set up. The sock drive is a service learning project with a focus on homelessness, AmeriCorps member Katie Stubblefield said.
The group did its research, interviewing homeless under the Grant Street Bridge in Lebanon and the director of ChristWalk transitional homes. The group also read several articles.
Some socks will go to ChristWalk to be distributed through their homes. Other socks will go straight to the homeless who live under the Bridge. Christie said the group is taking any kind of new socks in adult sizes. However, he said all donations are welcome. Any children’s sized socks will be donated to the River Center.
Other students taking part in the project are Amber Rodriguez, Colton Ringheimer and Steven Lytle. YouthBuild is for youth ages 16 to 24.
This story was written by Lebanon-Express reporter Emily Mentzer and appeared in the March 3, 2010, edition.
