This year Oliver Ames is having its first ever sock drive funded by the Leo Club and its execute members.
Here at OA, the Leo Club has three executive members. Their names are Fannie Fouron, Elizabeth Adami, and Gabriella Adami. These three work behind the scenes for the Leo Club and do all sorts of activities involving volunteering, donating, and simply just helping their community.
So how did this fall season’s sock drive come to be? According to Mrs. Sankaran, the “students decide what type of service they want to do during the year. We work closely with Brockton homeless shelters and came upon their need for socks. That’s when we decided to [do] the sock drive. We will be continuing this drive every year.”
The Leo Club works closely with homeless shelters and with people in need. This gave them the inspiration to host a sock drive at Oliver Ames.
As mentioned previously, Fannie Fouron is one of the three executive members of The Leo Club. Here’s what she had to say about this year’s Sock Drive.
When asked about her experience as a Leo Club member, Fannie said that “having been a member of the club since freshman year, I can attest that it has been helpful with developing leadership skills while serving my community. Some of my favorite service activities are packing lunches for the homeless shelter and washing eye glasses for Lions eye research. The LEO Club has also been an opportunity for me to connect and bond with other students with similar interests as me.”
In general, the Leo Club is great for students who want to help others and make new friends while doing it. It’s a great way to get involved with the community.
When specifically asked about her feelings towards the ongoing Sock Drive, Fannie claimed that she “feel[s] like the sock drive will be genuinely valuable to individuals in homeless shelters. If half of the school donates one pair, we would still be able to give over 550 pairs of socks. People rarely donate new socks to homeless shelters, despite the fact that they are the most needed piece of clothing. This means that a homeless person seeking clothing at a shelter will most likely receive everything they require—except socks. I think that this sock drive will have a huge impact on so many people this winter.”
Lastly, when asked about her opinions on the school’s participation regarding the event, Frannie said that she’s “pretty confident people will participate in the sock drive. While not everyone will be able to help, I’m sure many will. [She] also think[s] that making it into a competition and having a prize will encourage more people to participate.”
As this is the first year the Leo Club has done this kind of clothing drive, they have some great expectations. Mrs. Sankaran said overall, “we are hoping to have at least 2000 pairs of socks so that we can divide them up to the shelters”.
If you are looking to donate socks to the Sock Drive and want to contribute to this amazing cause, you can drop socks off to your advisory teacher. This event is actually part of an advisory competition, so the advisory that collects the most socks is going to be rewarded with a Dunkin Donuts gift card! The drive started on October 20th and ends on November 9th. Contact @LeoClubOAHS or Mrs. Sankaran for more information.