A local church is jumping on the Socktober bandwagon to help vulnerable and homeless people in Chilliwack.
Community of Christ Church is collecting donations of new socks throughout the month of October, and it's a campaign that pairs perfectly with a different outreach project by the Craft Night Crew.
The craft crew is a group of women who meet weekly at the church – some are church members, others are not – to knit and crochet toques and mittens for people in need. Over the past two Christmases, the women have made and donated hundreds of items.
So for pastor Bob Riley, he said it just made sense that socks be added to the mix. Socktober is not a church initiative, but rather an extension of what the Craft Night Crew women are doing, he emphasized.
Socktober has been around for more than a decade. It was started by Tennessee's Brad Montague in 2011 who wanted to do something to help the homeless. Since then, cities and communities around the world have been taking part.
Riley heard about Socktober during a summer church camp, and suggested it to his congregation members.
"People thought it's one small thing. Most people can afford one pair of socks."
With donations of socks, and the hand-knitted and hand-crocheted mittens and toques from the Craft Night Crew, it'll be a complete package of winter accessories to give to those in need.
"This all kind of ties together," Riley said. "I think it's a great idea."
Loralei Dean, member of the craft crew, said she and her fellow crafters are very grateful for the donations of yarn they received last year from the public to make the hats and mittens.
"I really wanted to say thank you to everybody who did donate last year. It was such a wonderful outpouring of help for us. We really appreciate it," Dean said.
The women were able to make about 200 hats with the donated yarn for this year's project. They are now looking for more donations of yarn so they can continue to make more toques.
Their goal is to donate 250 hats, which matches the goal to donate 250 pairs of socks as well.
All of the items will be given to Ann Davis Transition Society, Wilma's Transition Society, and will be handed out by RCMP and Griffin Security to people living on the streets.
"There's a lot of good stuff happening around Chilliwack, and this is just one example," Riley said.
People can drop off donations of new socks, and yarn, to Community of Christ Church at 9845 Carleton St. on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon, Mondays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (during the Craft Night Crew meetings), and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Anyone wishing to donate hand-knitted and hand-crocheted hats is asked not to put pompoms on the toques as they don't fit well underneath hoodies. Anyone is welcome to join the Craft Night Crew.
For more about Socktober, go to happysocktober.com.
