TERRE HAUTE —
Community volunteers hope underwear and socks by the tonnage show up on their porches this weekend.
Volunteers affiliated with the Terre Haute Catholic Charities Christmas Store are conducting their Fifth Annual Sock and Undergarment Drive, collecting packages of new items through Oct. 17. Nearly 25 neighborhoods throughout Vigo County compete annually to see which group can collect the most items, which then will be distributed to needy families this holiday.
John Etling, director of Terre Haute Catholic Charities, said the Christmas Store program works with dozens of social services agencies to find families needing the socks and undergarments. The clothes are then given to those families as part of the Christmas Store program, which brings them into their 14th and Locust street location for “basic needs items” such as hygiene kits, toys and food, he said.
“We see somewhere between 700 and 800 families, which represents anywhere from 3,200 to 3,600 individuals,” he said.
Collection barrels are located throughout the county on the porches of participating residents. Neighbors can purchase packs of undergarments or socks and leave them for collection. The program kicked off October 3 and will end the 17th.
Etling noted Christmas Store volunteer Joanne Brown came up with the idea about five years ago when she realized how many families lacked socks and underwear.
Brown said she found it very “disturbing” that people couldn’t afford those most basic items for Christmas, and at that point, she decided to place a barrel on her own porch in the Idle Creek subdivision. Sending flyers out to her neighbors, she explained that she would take whatever items they gave her to the Christmas Store, and the response was strong.
“I think I filled it up three times,” she said of that first year’s collections. “It’s not glamorous, but it is a necessity.”
The next year, Brown invited other neighborhoods into the drive and made a contest out of it. Last year’s drive included 19 neighborhoods and yielded 9,000 pairs of socks and underwear, she said.
Pam Grimes said she got involved when Brown, her neighbor, first invited her five years ago. The steady growth of the program has been exciting, she said.
“It’s only common decency for people to have a pair of underwear and a pair of socks,” she said.
Adult and child sizes are needed, both said.
Brown said packages of socks and underwear can be purchased around town for a few dollars while people are shopping for the holidays. Individuals interested in helping can e-mail Pam Grimes at pamgrimes@gmail.com.
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