So imagine how excited I was a few years ago when a friend shared that she keeps packages of socks in her car for when she sees the homeless.
I admit, before her suggestion, when I saw a homeless person I imagined them standing at a street corner, holding a cardboard sign and wanting money for booze. But, she made an excellent point that they prolly have tired feet, old socks, and prolly don't wash them very often. Further, in the winter they can be used as gloves to warm their hands.
So, I started to carry packages of socks in my car.
I have given out packages many, many numerous times and I really do stock them up in my car. And just this past winter, I had a couple of friends witness the "sock exchange."
It was kinda of ironic, but I had two friends get in my car at different times, and they each asked me, "why do you have socks in your car?" as they climbed into my car and tried to make room in between the socks I explained to both Dana and Karen that I give them to the homeless.
On the EXACT same day they each asked me about the socks, we saw a homeless person and they were able to witness the pure joy from the person receiving the gift.
Dana and I saw a guy standing at a corner with his sign within prolly only 10 minutes of her asking me about the socks. I rolled down my window, asked her to grab the package, and then I held the socks out my window for him. As soon as he saw what we were giving him, he literally started to DANCE towards the car!
If I had to describe the dance, it would be like this:
Dana and I were both moved beyond words for the rest of the weekend. He was so overjoyed and kept telling us "thank you, thank you" and "God Bless You." It truly made his day :)
A month or so later, my friend Karen asked me the same thing about the socks and that very day, we stopped by Walgreens that night and there was a guy outside asking for money. As we got back in my car, I pulled up over to him and we rolled down our window and handed him a package of socks. He was also VERY grateful. He must have said "God Bless You!" a 100 times! He was SO excited.
To give socks away is a small little gift we can do for others. But I admit, I think the effect it had on being witnessed by Dana and Karen will be with my friends forever. The gratitude from these two guys from /just/ SOCKS was truly a sight to witness.
A month later I saw a guy with a small sign at a very remote intersection, where I had never seen anyone before. Seemed very out of the way for a homeless guy. I passed him up, and then turned around to hand him the socks. He could barely walk. His legs were barely working and his shoes were tore up. It broke my heart to see him hobble, but his eyes lit up with such happiness with the small gift that we take for granted. He was also very grateful and couldn't say thank you enough!
I now look for opportunities to hand over this previous gift. And because they have been so receptive and grateful of the socks, I view them as not just panhandlers, but people who need help with even little things.
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