In a two-week period in October, Dolvin Elementary students and teachers collected more than 4,000 socks to give to the Gateway Center, a homeless shelter in Atlanta, and the Foster Care Support Foundation. The event, called "Socktober," was an opportunity for students and the community to come together to help others.
"I have a friend who works at the Gateway Center, and she said they're out of socks all of the time," said organizer Jenny Petrina, a teacher at the school.
Through Petrina's leadership, students made posters announcing the sock drive and there was overwhelming support from students and the community.
Through her Gateway Center friend, Petrina learned of programs that provided socks. She used their example to develop the event at Dolvin Elementary.
In addition to leading the collections effort, Petrina served as the delivery driver who drops the large bags of socks off to the shelter.
"I'm the one who puts them in my car," she said. "It's easy for me to distribute."
Principal Karen Cooke was astonished when she learned there were 375 men who lived at the Gateway Center, 175 of whom are homeless veterans.
"That really gave me goosebumps when I heard that we're helping veterans," Cooke said.
Petrina is proud of the work students have done to uplift others.
"I think we learned a long time ago that our community is incredibly generous," she said. "They want to be helpful and just need to be given the opportunity."
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