WGTS 91.9 Listeners Provide Socks for D.C.’s Homeless

Story by Jerry Woods

WGTS listeners just finished celebrating Socktober.  Socktober was created after team members at the station talked with the Salvation Army and Central Union Mission and found out one of the biggest needs in the homeless community is warm socks, especially as colder weather sets in.

Throughout October and the first two weeks of November, the WGTS team went to local Walmarts all across the Washington area to do sock drives with teams of “WGTS Hands and Heart” volunteers.  This past Friday half a dozen volunteers came to the station to help sort and pack the socks.  When it was all said and done over 21,000 pairs of socks were ready for pick-up by the local ministries.  The socks will go directly to the homeless through the Central Union Mission and to underprivileged kids in the D.C. area through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Project.

“This is the first time we’ve done ‘Socktober’, so we really had no clue what to expect.  To say listeners overwhelmed us with their generosity is an understatement.  Last Friday listener volunteers came to the station and spent close to 10 hours counting, sorting and boxing socks to get them ready to go the homeless.  What a fantastic way to start the Thanksgiving season,” said WGTS Community Engagement Director Jitesh Ram.

 “The thousands and thousands of socks you’ve collected will make such a difference in the lives of the people we’re privileged to serve,” said Deb Chambers, vice-president for partnerships for the Central Union Mission.