Happy feet and touch of dignity: What a Salvation Army gift means to homeless recipients
It’s a small comfort but can make a big difference for a homeless person — a clean pair of socks.
“It’s really hard if you’re out on the streets to find socks that actually fit or are clean,” said a 45-year-old woman who is a resident of Stanislaus County’s homeless shelter in The Salvation Army’s Berberian Center.
“Sometimes,” the woman continued, “they’re just too holey or whatever. Out here your feet get dirty and nasty, and there are bugs and other things that get into your shoes. ... With clean socks at least you feel a little human.”
The woman, who declined to give her name, was among the homeless people who received new socks Tuesday at The Berberian Center, which is near downtown Modesto.
The local Salvation Army received 6,250 pairs of socks. Capt. Samuel Snyder said The Salvation Army’s national headquarters and Hanes worked together on the donation.
Hanes, which is known for its T-shirts and underwear, has been donating its socks nationwide to The Salvation Army and other organizations that help the homeless since 2009, according to media reports.
Snyder said The Salvation Army was providing three pairs of socks to each person who showed up at the socks giveaway outside the Berberian Center.
The Berberian Center is home to the county’s homeless shelter as well as The Salvation Army’s shelter. The two shelters can take in 393 people but have 126 people now because of the pandemic restrictions, according to Snyder.
The Salvation Army also invited the guests of the nearby Modesto Gospel Mission to the socks giveaway and got the word out among homeless people ahead of Tuesday’s giveaway.
Snyder said the army will find ways to hand out socks leftover from Tuesday. For instance, he said the army will give them out to the people who show up later this month at a vaccination clinic at the army’s Red Shield Center in south Modesto.
