Benbrook students warm hearts and feet as part of ‘Sock-tober’ donation for homeless

A few folks who are only a few feet tall are warming the feet of many through their generosity.

The Benbrook Elementary School Student Council, as part of a recent project, collected socks and donated them to homeless people in and around Fort Worth. They called the event “Sock-tober,” and ever since their work has helped others be a little bit warmer this winter.

“We came across the idea for Sock-tober on a social media platform several years ago. Socks are the most requested item in homeless shelters, and after the difficult winter that Texas experienced last year, we thought this would be the perfect project for us to take on,” said Katie Yelvington, one of the student council sponsors, along with Kelby Duncan.

The students set a goal to collect 400 pairs of socks. They collected over twice that many — 827, in fact — and donated them to the Union Gospel Mission.

“This project taught me that it is good to help out the people in need. Everyone did a good job on getting over our goal that we set,” Student Council President Madisyn said.

The school would not release students’ last names.

Vice President Andres said projects such as this are why he joined the council.

“I like student council because you help other people and you can say your thoughts and spend time with your friends,” he said.

Yelvington said the project sparked great conversation between students and opened their eyes to the needs of those struggling in the community.

“Our entire campus participated by donating socks. We had bins sitting at each door during morning drop-off, and student council members collected donations in the carpool lanes on Friday,” she said. “The entire school earned a crazy sock day at the end of the month for meeting our goal.”

Yelvington said in the past the council has collected clothing and food items, but this was the first year to collect only socks.

She said each month the council takes on a new project. For example, in November they held a canned food drive, partnering with Live Thankfully to collect for those in need. In December, the project was to “deck the halls” as they spread holiday cheer by decorating school hallways.

The student council consists of fourth- and fifth-grade student leaders. Each of the 24 members is expected to maintain an A/B average, have an E in citizenship, and promote school spirit.

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 6:00 AM.