Derek has worked hard, earned his required 21 merit badges + a few extra, gone on 20 + nights of camp outs and now for the Eagle Scout Project. He been thinking about this project for several months but we just couldn't find the right project. We didn't want to do a landscaping/tree planting activity for a few reasons. The main being every other boy in his troop has done that type of activity this year. Curtis' back really can't handle a back breaking labor insentive activity like that. We don't have trucks and equipment to orchestrate this activity. We would have to rely on a lot of other people for trucks etc. Derek wanted to do an activity that did something to really benefit someone in need rather than just beautify the area.
He looked through the "Just Serve" website and found The Aris Foundation, which worked with homeless people and was requesting socks for the homeless. This was a project that really struck home with Derek. Last Christmas we made homeless kits where we had water, toothbrush/toothpaste, hand sanitizer, blankets and a few snacks. For a few nights we drove around looking for homeless people to help. It took us a while to find any, but when we did they all asked if we had any socks. We soon realized socks were very much needed by the homeless. A few months later we read an article that said socks were the most requested item, but the least donated to homeless shelters. This seemed to be the perfect project for Derek. Especially since socks are such a coveted/prized item by Curtis. He is constantly buying new socks, and is always excited to get new ones.
Derek got everything approved and he set a goal to collect 1000 pairs of socks. When he first met with Catherine from the Aris Foundation and he told her his goal, she was impressed, but said she would be thrilled with 50 socks. Derek set up collection boxes at Bogle Jr High (they even set it up as a contest between teams to encourage participation). Revelation Real Estate, and the church. He made short videos, posters, flyers, and announcements. He even wrote to stores like Sam's Club and Target to ask for donations. Then he waited, and waited for about a month. Slowly the socks started coming in.
When it was all over Derek had collected 1051 pairs of socks (130 pairs were donted by Curtis alone)
Delivery Day:
Last week Derek contacted Catherine from the Aris foundation and set up a delivery time, he told her the collection was over and he wanted to deliver them, he didn't tell her how many he collected.
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| Catherine opening up a box of socks. |
This is Catherine, being overjoyed to hear that Derek collected over 1000 pairs of socks. She was so excited, everytime one of her kids walked in the room, she told them. The best way I can describe Catherine's excitiment is you would have thought she won the lottery getting all these socks delivered. She kept saying "over 1000 socks" originally when we met with her she said she would be thrilled wiht 50 and she meant it. Catherine was so happy and so genuinely gracious to receive these socks to be able to pass them out to her homeless friends.
She sent us pictures a few days later of Derek's socks helping the homeless. It felt so good to make a difference.
