BY EMMIE SIROKY
The snow is here and more cold weather is ahead. In the winter a lot of people spend their time bundled up inside. Although trying to stay warm without jacking up your heating bill is difficult, it’s harder to keep the chill out when you have no home and no warm clothes.
To help those less fortunate, the Waterloo Public Library holds a charity event called The Toasty Toes Sock Drive. It began three years ago after Sandi Hall, a specialist in the marketing and communications department at the library, heard about a community sock drive in the U.S. on the radio. She then took it upon herself to create a similar event for the local community.
“In the month of February, Waterloo Public Library customers are encouraged to bring in donations of new pairs of socks for adults to any WPL location,” said Hall. “At the end of the month the socks are given to the Working Centre, who distribute them to those in need in the community.”
This year’s goal is to collect 1,000 pairs of socks. Last year they collected over 700 pairs, doubling their count from the year before. They had help from the University of Waterloo’s Davis Johnston Research and Technology Park. This year they teamed up with Me to We students at Mary Johnston Public School.
“The sock drive is another way to work with our awesome customers and help the less fortunate in our community,” said Hall. “And from a health perspective, dry, warm feet are important to good health. We all know how great it feels to put on clean, cozy, warm socks on a cold winter day. For the homeless in our community, who are spending a lot of their time on their feet in inclement weather, there’s a need for fresh, clean, dry socks. It is a basic, simple need but very necessary.”
They are looking for new adult-sized socks starting Feb. 1. The socks can be dropped off at all three of the WPL locations during the entire month of February. To find out more you can visit their website at www.wpl.ca.
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