Hannah's Socks • warm feet, warm hearts

Once again the rain ended at the perfect time for the Hannah's Socks volunteers to get set up for the Saturday morning distribution of socks at the Downtown Toledo Library!

The Hannah's Socks volunteers had the opportunity to add a little "color" to the white, athletic-style socks that are generally handed out. A large box of men's dress socks had been donated for our Saturday morning distribution!

There was a large selection of varying brown, tan, black, and blue socks, some with patterns. One man loved the new style of socks and asked if he could have a second pair of the argyle socks that he had selected. Another man tried to find a pair that would match his khaki-colored pants.

One man, however, politely declined receiving any dress socks stating that he didn't have any dress shoes so he didn't need any dress socks -- he was happy with his white socks.

Not only did the Hannah's Socks volunteers help a few folks have "warm feet," this past Saturday they also helped a few folks have some "fancy feet"!

The first Saturday in September brought the Hannah's Socks volunteers to the Downtown Toledo Library to distribute our supply of men's, women's, and children's socks. All went well despite some buzzing bees and our "color blindness" as we tried to figure out if some of the socks were black or if they were really dark blue!

After all the socks had been handed out, I spent some time talking with a friend who makes his way back and forth between Detroit and Toledo. He was in town this weekend so we were able to chat and catch up for a while. He shared with me that he had been staying in a tent down by the river and had been going to the Cherry Street Mission a couple times a week to get his clothes washed and get a warm shower.

He had a cell phone so he could keep in touch with his family, but unfortunately it had recently been washed in the laundry. He had a sense of humor about it, laughing and joking about his "nice, clean phone"!

Before we parted ways, he told me that he wasn't sure when he would be seeing me next, because he was planning to go to Arizona to stay with family for a while. As we talked, I happened to glance down and see that he did not have on any socks with his tennis shoes. I was glad that he had been able to get a couple pairs of new socks earlier in the morning from the Hannah's Socks volunteers.

Spring, summer, fall, or winter -- there is always a need for new socks to help those who've fallen on hard times.

Learn about volunteering with Hannah's Socks.

Lisa volunteers regularly with our Toledo-area team and shares her experiences in a weekly feature called "Volunteer Diary." Newsletter subscribers get to read her posts first.