Hundreds of homeless individuals in Chula Vista will have socks on their feet as the weather gets colder, thanks to the donation of a sock company.
Carlsbad-based SockGuy, a 21-year-old performance sock company, has a tradition of donating to communities throughout the country and around the world as part of Operation Happy Feet.
Now they are impacting the Chula Vista community through their donation of 1,000 pairs of socks to Helping Hands, a Chula Vista-based community group dedicated to raising awareness about homelessness and offering a helping hand for those in need.
Helping Hands collected the pairs of socks from SockGuy, then gave them to Turning The Hearts Center, a nonprofit center that provides homeless assistance and other services at 345 Fifth Ave. in Chula Vista. Turning The Hearts Center distributes the socks at its Day of Hope events.
Rosy Vasquez, community outreach coordinator for Turning The Hearts Center, said the SockGuy socks are much needed.
“They are so well made,” she said. “They are perfect for the winter, and they are durable.”
The donated socks are ones that were made with a small defect during the design and creating process.
“A lot of companies resell (defected socks) to big closeout buyers around the world, they literally sell them in some cases below cost because they have so many of them,” said Michael Foley, president of SockGuy. “We chose not to do that in most cases. Instead we give them away…While we certainly don’t benefit financially, sometimes it’s not all about the financial side of things. We are doing the right thing.”
SockGuy’s Operation Happy Feet started in 2010 to help shelters, charities and deserving organizations, like the Turning The Hearts Center to raise funds and get socks on those who need them the most.
SockGuy makes performance socks for cycling, running, snowboarding and an array of other performance activities. SockGuy’s socks usually cost anywhere between $12 to $30.
Foley said donating socks every year through Operation Happy Feet makes him realize the importance of giving back.
“It’s been a real eye opener on how many people need help out there,” he said. “And we’re just one small company doing a small effort to help do our civic duty.”
Vasquez said the center is thankful for the donation, especially now that summer is over.
“Socks are just so hard to come by and Thank God we are going to have some for the winter season,” she said.
