CENTERVILLE, Ohio — In Living Hope Church, a unique set of decorations adorn the altar. Instead of flowers, candles or statues, boxes of socks surround the space.
Over the past two weeks, thousands of multi-colored socks of all sizes and patterns had stacked up in the sanctuary, awaiting their blessing before taking their trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border.
The drive is a part of the “Warm Feet from Warm Hearts” campaign spearheaded by parishioner Tom Shuler. He said he set out to provide something he knew refugees needed that most Americans take for granted.
Shuler packs a box with sock donations
“Everybody needs warm feet,” he said.
The United Nations estimates 6 million refugees have left Ukraine, most seeking shelter in Poland and other nearby European nations, with aid agencies like Project Hope reporting food, shelter and hygiene items are their most pressing needs.
Shuler’s goal is to provide 10,000 socks after two weeks of collections, then send them to the border through a partnership with Matthew 25 Ministries.
“These are 6,000 of these and then another 2,000 are coming,” he said.
Shuler has been focused on service for the past ten years. It started with serving dinner once a month at his local St. Vincent DePaul.
Shuler collects socks from donation bin outside Living Hope Church
He would come every fifth Sunday, and as the tradition continued and volunteers joined him, the name stuck. Shuler branched out their efforts by organizing donation drives and connecting with other local churches, all under the umbrella of fifth Sunday.
“We have about 300 plus volunteers that work on this and other projects and they always respond very generously,” he said.
Then, three months ago, when he saw the humanitarian crisis growing around Ukraine, Shuler said he had to find a way to help.
“I hope they do see that people love and care about them,” he said.
Now every day he goes to the collection bin outside Living Hope Church to collect pack after pack of socks to add to the growing collection.
“It’s men’s women’s children’s all different types,” he said.
Having volunteered in relief efforts himself, Shuler said he also wanted to ensure the donations came with a little kindness to share with the volunteers themselves.
Shuler said volunteers and kids at living hope added notes and kind words of affirmation all over the donation boxes.
“Those people are putting in all kinds of hours and it must take a lot out of them,” he said.
Shuler said he tries to organize a large drive like this one at least once a year, but in just two weeks, he said he was surprised how quickly the community banded together to fill box after box with socks.
As he prepares to send off the donations, he said he hopes they’ll serve as a beacon of goodwill, proving even in the darkest times, when the world seems out of your control, everyone has something to give.
“We do live in a good society,” he said. “It’s just hard to see sometimes.”
