D. T. Friedman of the nonprofit OxenFree in Indiana writes:

SOCK MY PUNKS!

Hi there!

I’m the Resource Coordinator for a non-profit organization that works with homeless and indigent teenagers, as well as teens who are in bad home situations. OxenFree is a really fantastic program that engages at-risk teens through punk rock music, and provides support in a drug-free and alcohol-free environment.

The reason I’m invading blogs today? My job with OxenFree is to receive requests from the phenomenal people who run the program, and to figure out a way to fill them. My current assignment is…SOCKS. And I have to admit, I’m a bit at a loss. Socks are not a large-volume item at clothing centers (people usually just wear them out instead of donating them), and they’re surprisingly expensive. Homeless teenagers, especially hitchhikers, go through socks like you wouldn’t believe. My friend Margie can no longer afford to keep stocking her “free socks” drawer by herself, and asked me if I could try working my magic.

So, would you be willing to help me sock my punks?

If so, thank you in advance! Thank you so much! Any donation is welcome (supplies only, please) at the following address:

OxenFree Donations
4922 E. New York St.
Indianapolis, IN 46201

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and tampons are also very useful and hard-to-come-by items.

If shipping to Indiana is too expensive, it would totally rock MY socks off if you considered donating to a similar program in your own city. At-risk teens are everywhere. They’re really neat people, and doing tiny things to help them out has an incredible effect.

Thank you so much, again, for your time, attention and consideration!

D. T. Friedman

http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/help-with-sock-donations/

I used to have a little disposable income and a big lazy streak, so I never washe dmy socks, I'd just wear each pair for about 3 days, then buy new ones when I ran out. I realize this is incredibly wasteful, but it really only cost me a tiny amount of money.

I looked into donating the used socks to shelters adn things, I even would have washed an entire load, but I was turned away everywhere I tried. They only wanted new, unworn socks.

I did a few small arts and crafts projects with them a couple of times.

I wanted to make a bed for my dog with them, but my girlfriend at the time wouldn't let me. He would have loved the scent!