MONROE, CT — Rotary Club of Monroe members collected 4,500 pairs of socks last year, keeping feet warm for clients of Homes for the Brave, which helps homeless veterans, The Center for Family Justice and the Bridgeport Rescue Mission — and the collection drive for this year’s Soctober is already underway.
New pairs of men’s, women’s and children’s socks will be collected at several locations around town from now until Oct. 28, benefiting the homeless and victims of abuse.
Molly Simons-Smith, of Monroe, came up with the idea for the annual sock collection drive a few years ago.
“I learned it’s the least donated item and the most needed, and I thought of how easy it could be to collect socks,” she said during an interview outside Last Drop Coffee Shop, 435 Main St., Tuesday.
A friend suggested that she bring the idea to the Rotary Club to make it a bigger event. The Monroe Rotary Club matches all pairs of socks that are donated.
Simons-Smith later joined the Monroe Rotary Club and is now president of the community service organization.
The drop off locations for this year’s Soctober are:
Last Drop Coffee Shop, Union Savings Bank (411 Monroe Turnpike), Monroe Social (494 Main St.), Endangered Studio (494 Main St.), Benedict’s Home & Garden (480 Purdy Hill Road), Newtown Savings Bank (477 Main St.), The United Methodist Church (525 Cutlers Farm Road) and Monroe Town Hall (7 Fan Hill Road).
Simons-Smith said some businesses are doing promotions to encourage donations.
“The owner of Endangered Studio, the newest drop off location, is offering a $50 cash voucher for your first tattoo for those bringing sock donations,” she said.
For another promotion, Last Drop is offering a free small coffee for those who donate socks and buy a sandwich.
Simons-Smith said the community was still coming out of the COVID pandemic last year, so the Rotary Club hopes this year’s haul of socks will be even bigger.
This year’s event will have the same beneficiaries, The Center for Family Justice, Homes for the Brave and the Bridgeport Rescue Mission.
