Valley Baptist, Loaves and Fishes donate socks to homeless

HARLINGEN – The socks in the drawers of the homes where we live seem small in the broad ranges of our lives.

They are but small pieces of routine in our homes all the days of the year.

But for the homeless, a pair of socks clean and new and thick means something powerful and warm and hopeful.

That’s why the Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen donated 1,400 pairs of new fresh socks Monday to Loaves and Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley.

Loaves and Fishes at 514 S. E St. runs a shelter for homeless people and serves hot meals to those in need. Tuesday afternoon Loaves and Fishes distributed the socks to those having Thanksgiving Dinner at the facility.

“We do a fundraiser for Socktober in October,” said Minerva Acosta, senior director for food and nutrition service at Valley Baptist.

The name of the fundraiser is in fact Socktober, and this is its third year, Acosta said.

“What we do is we pump up everybody here in our hospital to donate socks,” Acosta said. “Our employees, we care about our community. We want to help keep the homeless and underprivileged warm in the cold season.”

Last year, Valley Baptist donated its “Socktober” socks to the Salvation Army. This year, the donations went to the Loaves and Fishes.

“I know we get socks donated every year,” said Tommy Lee Martinez, client services coordinator for Loaves and Fishes.

“Along with our hygiene kits, socks are important to our homeless community,” Martinez said. “We’re making sure they have clean socks all the time when they’re out there in the elements, things like that. It’s always good to have clean socks and things like that, not only for basic hygiene but also for those who are diabetic and things like that. There’s always a health concern about clean socks. People often forget about that. It’s also very important when you’re on the street.”

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