Sprouts of Hope: Collecting Socks for Homeless People

Being Part of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Sock Drive

By Eliza

For the second year in a row, the Sprouts of Hope decided to participate in the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP)’s sock drive. BHCHP is a city-wide nonprofit organization that provides health care for homeless people in Boston, and every year in the early spring, they have a sock drive.

Socks can reduce the risk of skin infections, prevent frostbite, and foster good hygiene. Many homeless and poor people do not have access t

o clean socks.

When we went to the sock drive finale and delivery party, we learned more about BHCHP and their yearly sock drive. We found out that last year, 13,000 pairs of socks were donated during the sock drive. That is a lot of socks, and hopefully this year there will be even more!

We listened as Cecilia Ibeabuchi, who works at the BHCHP clinic as a nurse, explained that homeless people aren’t allowed to take their socks off in shelters in order to prevent infections and bad smells. But this means that homeless people’s socks get really dirty. Often, this means they have to use plastic shopping bags as socks.

She invited us to come by the foot clinic so we could see how our socks are being used —and learn more about what she and the volunteers do when people arrive there with foot problems.

The Sprouts contributed 65 pairs of socks to the sock drive, and it felt great to be supporting people in need. We were able to exchange business cards with nurses and volunteers who work at BHCHP and we hope to continue our partnership with them in the future. Overall, it was an inspiring event and a cause worth learning about and celebrating.