A Bi-Mart employees helps wheel a full (and heavy) bin of donated socks out of the 18th & Chambers store as part of the month-long sock donation drive dubbed “Socktoberfest” for Looking Glass youth.
James Ewell, New Roads Manager, poses for a photo of the pre-Socktoberfest sock supply at New Roads (photo credit: Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, The Register-Guard). October 8, 2019.
On a chilly fall Eugene day in early October, New Roads Runaway & Homeless Youth Services Manager James Ewell posed for a photo opp taken by a Register-Guard reporter showing a sad and mostly empty bin of socks at the New Roads clothing closet which showed the current supply of socks offered to youth being at about 10 or so pairs. By the end of “Socktoberfest” the first ever month-long coordinated sock donation drive for Looking Glass, the challenge became finding storage for all the newly received socks - more than 7,000 pairs of socks were donated and they’re still coming in.
Liz & Reilly of Mix 94.5FM show off the haul they helped collect for Socktoberfest, from listeners and supporters of their show.
Donation drive partners included The Register-Guard, Liz & Reilly and 94.5 Mix FM, Bi-Mart, Falling Sky Brewing and Macy’s at Valley River Center. Donations were also sent directly to Looking Glass admin office from community members. Church and other civic groups pooled efforts and sock maker and distributor Bombas caught wind of the effort and sent in 500 pairs of socks as well.
“We were blown away by the response from our corporate partners and the community at large on this one, “ explained Looking Glass Marketing & Development Director Tyler Mack. “Going from having virtually no socks in the New Roads clothing closet to being overrun with a sock supply will make a huge impact on our youth.”
Socks are in constant need for the unhoused (youth or otherwise) who often find themselves walking for miles each day and lack laundry options.
The hope and plan is to make Socktoberfest an annual sock donation drive. In addition to socks, of course, homeless youth at Looking Glass are in need of coats, gloves, hats, scarves, tents, tarps, sleeping bags and more. To find out how you can help, please contact our development staff at 541-246-2257.
Looking Glass New Roads Outreach Team members pose surrounded by the 7,000+ socks in various bags and bins donated as part of the Socktoberfest drive.
