{"id":7540,"date":"2017-12-19T01:05:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T06:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=7540"},"modified":"2022-10-09T07:52:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T11:52:16","slug":"give-socks-homeless-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/give-socks-homeless-people\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Give Socks to Homeless People."},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m pretty sure I wasn\u2019t the first guy to give socks to homeless people. But I can almost guarantee no one has handed out socks to as many homeless people in as many cities and countries as I have. In the last ten years, I have traveled to over 300 cities and eight different countries handing out socks and making new homeless friends. I thought it would be a good idea to put together a \u201cHow-to\u201d guide on handing out socks to people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n

But, before I begin with the \u201chow\u201d, let\u2019s first discuss the \u201cwhy\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are reasons handing out socks is so important. First, socks are a real need <\/strong>to homeless people.<\/strong> Imagine you have to store all your clothes and belongings in a backpack carried with you all day. Maybe you\u2019ve got two pairs of jeans, a couple of shirts, a couple of pairs of underwear, and some socks. And, socks get dirty. They get dirty fast.<\/p>\n

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What happens is homeless people wash their feet, but often they have to put dirty socks back on.<\/strong> While surprisingly simple, new socks are gold to homeless people because they feel good and help defend from several health problems. As one woman put it, brand new socks are \u201csnuggly and comfy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homeless people are getting sandwiches all day long, but very rarely do they receive socks.<\/strong> By handing out socks, you\u2019re helping with a genuine need and creating a nonverbal connection that says, \u201cYou know something about homelessness. You care.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Another reason to give out socks is it feels good helping somebody else.<\/strong> Sometimes when I\u2019m feeling down or a little depressed, I will fill my backpack with a couple of bags of socks and go hand them out to homeless people and make some new friends. My problems don\u2019t go away, but I gain a new perspective that helps me deal with life. I guarantee when you\u2019re giving other people the gift of brand new fresh socks, you\u2019re going to get all kinds of amazing responses back \u2014 from smiles to jumps for joy. I even had a homeless youth once yell, \u201cWhite gold.\u201d It will recharge you.<\/p>\n

I often get asked by people, \u201cThere\u2019s a homeless person in my neighborhood. I see him. I walk by him. I want to know his story.\u201d Break the ice by giving some socks and then listen.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a lot of different ways that you can hand out socks.<\/strong> You can, like me, carry socks in your backpack. Maybe carry a couple of pairs in your purse or in your briefcase. You can keep a couple of pairs in your glove box for when you\u2019re at that exit ramp, and there\u2019s a homeless person, and maybe the light turns red and it\u2019s a little awkward. Take that awkward moment and turn it into something beautiful by handing the homeless person some socks.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s look at the \u201cHow\u201d to give socks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number one question I get is, \u201cWhat kind of socks do I give away?\u201d<\/p>\n

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The only style of sock you should buy is men\u2019s white crew socks.<\/strong> Don\u2019t buy the \u201cno-shows.\u201d Don\u2019t buy tube socks. Don\u2019t buy ankle socks. And don\u2019t buy black socks. People prefer white socks over black socks. Occasionally I will take black socks and white socks with me and give people a choice; 99 out of 100 times a homeless person will choose, \u201cWhite socks.\u201d<\/p>\n

I also recommend Hanes socks. Hanes is a wonderful, comfortable sock at a fantastic price. There\u2019s a lot of buy one give one brands out there. But for the cost of one sock from one of the buy one give one brands, you can buy 12 pairs of Hanes socks. That means you can give out six pairs of socks and keep six pairs if you wanted. Or you can give out all 12 pairs of socks for the price of 1 pair of the BOGO socks.<\/p>\n

In full disclosure<\/strong>, Hanes occasionally hires me as a consultant<\/a> and Hanes donates socks to Invisible People, but I am not being compensated for this post in any way. I am doing this because Hanes is the best sock for you to buy to give to homeless people.<\/p>\n

I want homeless people to have socks. I want them to have quality socks, so that\u2019s why I recommend Hanes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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My next tip is safety first \u2014 If you don\u2019t feel safe, don\u2019t engage with someone.<\/strong> Now, this is not just homelessness. We live in a really scary world. If you don\u2019t feel comfortable, don\u2019t go down that street. If you don\u2019t feel comfortable when somebody tries to panhandle, don\u2019t engage and give them socks. You have to feel safe and comfortable wherever you are. Your safety comes first.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I try to give every homeless person two pairs of socks.<\/strong> Sometimes that\u2019s not possible. If I walk into a group that\u2019s rather large, then maybe I\u2019ll go down to one pair of socks. If the group is way too big, I may not even give socks at all, because when I went to school the teacher said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have enough gum to give to everybody in the class, don\u2019t bring it out.\u201d I go by that rule.<\/p>\n

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Last, but far from least is have fun. Some of the most amazing moments of my adult life have been out on the streets with a backpack full of socks making new homeless friends. Helping somebody in crisis with something so simple as a pair of new socks makes you feel grateful for what you have because when you hand them new socks, you\u2019re going to see an amazing smile, shouts for joy, and you\u2019re just going to go, \u201cWow. My life. I was upset about this today, and this person is happy just because they got new socks?\u201d It\u2019s an amazing experience.<\/p>\n

Watch this video for more tips on how to give out socks to homeless people.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m pretty sure I wasn\u2019t the first guy to give socks to homeless people. But I can almost guarantee no one has handed out socks to as many homeless people in as many cities and countries as I have. In … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[364,7645],"tags":[7176,7175,765],"coauthors":[7336],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19789,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7540\/revisions\/19789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7540"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}