Two La Salle students who double as Blanchet House student ambassadors organized a sock drive, which brought in more than 200 pairs of socks to help the houseless community around Portland.
A prominent issue in the houseless community is footwear. While shoes are vital for the health and wellness of houseless folks, many foot issues originate from wet socks. Portland’s weather is regularly wet, which means “there is a great need for socks and dry socks, especially coming out of winter and going into spring where it’s rainy and cold,” said senior Annie Page, one of the two Blanchet House student ambassadors.
The fundraiser ran the week of April 8, although the ambassadors started promoting the drive the week prior. Senior Lauren Baker — the second of the two ambassadors — created a poster design that was seen throughout the halls of La Salle. Page and Baker also went to numerous teachers and gave them posters to hang in the classroom along with asking them to promote the fundraiser and share the information with their class.
Another way they promoted the fundraiser was going into Religious Studies Department Chair and Religious Studies Teacher Ms. Jane Nitchske’s freshman class to talk to them about the sock drive.
Page, being a second-time ambassador — after finishing her first term deciding to apply again — with Blanchet House, first found out about the opportunity to be an ambassador while volunteering at Blanchet House as she saw a poster hanging on a bulletin board.
Page made the decision to continue to be a part of the ambassador program because “it’s very in-touch with the community that you’re serving,” she said, especially being able to meet the people who benefit from Blanchet House’s services and be with them first-hand.
The program’s purpose is to “connect our school to Blanchet House so that we would be able to reach more people and provide for the people that come in to get a meal,” Page said.
Student ambassadors for Blanchet House are required to organize a fundraiser that supports those who go to Blanchet House for meals. There are no restrictions on what can be organized, but some examples include bake sales and food drives.
Prior to the drive, Page and Baker didn’t necessarily have a quantitative goal in mind but “wanted to stress both men and women socks of all sizes,” Page said. In the end, that goal was met and there were a wide variety of socks donated.
