Fifth graders’ Socktober drive warms the hearts and feet of area homeless

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY—As the mercury dips ever lower around the Bay Area, the challenge of staying warm grows more difficult for those who find themselves living on the streets.

Socks are the No. 1 need of those in this situation. Contra Costa County CORE (Coordinated Outreach Referral Engagement) team members in the field say the eyes of the homeless light up when they receive a pair.

“Socktober” was a way for 35 fifth graders at St. Catherine of Siena School in Vallejo to address this need by seeing how many pairs of socks they could donate to benefit the county’s homeless population. The class came through in a big way. They brought in 947 pairs of socks for men, women and children.

Nurturing empathy

“The children’s love and empathy was nurtured through their actions and deepening interest in this service project,” said teacher David Scholz.

The children earned spare change and other monetary donations in exchange for acts of kindness and service at home and around their neighborhoods and the community at large in October. They used the money to purchase the socks – adding another component to the project as they calculated where they could get the most bang for the buck when buying the socks.

Student awareness of the issue of homeless was enriched by a Zoom visit with Dori Geer, the CORE outreach coordinator with Contra Costa County Health Services. She spoke to the children about the team’s efforts to serve the homeless and fielded questions during the hour-long session. The students followed up by writing letters expressing their appreciation to Geer for giving her time and to share a reaction to what they had learned during the virtual visit.

They gained further information and understanding about homelessness through assigned readings as part of language arts/literature lessons during the month.