The Start of Toasty Toes

The idea to create a nonprofit came to my mom and I when I was about 13 years old. I started out in Girl Scouts when I was really young, through that experience is how I first got involved with community service and helping others. We had been wanting to get involved with the community on a deeper level so we decided we wanted to start our own nonprofit organization, which eventually came to be Toasty Toes. This idea came to us when we started to notice so many homeless without the right kind of clothing essentials during the winter season. We live in a border city, and do cross to Mexico quite often, which is where we first noticed the lack of socks and footwear these people go through. It was heartbreaking to see how these people live, which is why we decided to do something about it. Many of us take our socks for granted, when other people are living on the streets with no socks or shoes at all.

It did take us a few years after that to actually start making progress within the organization, but we did start accepting donations. In high school I was very involved in Student Council, which is where I started to make sock drives within my high school and other schools in the district. I went on to get donations from them even after I graduated. These donations were very helpful and came a long way. We were able to distribute them around our community and as well as internationally in Mexico. It feels amazing to be able to help so many people. That is the whole reason we started Toasty Toes, to provide socks for people to have happy and healthy feet.

After seeing the impact these socks have on people in need, you see how important socks really are. You see, many charities will provide all types of clothing for the homeless, but, since most people throw out their socks when they are used instead of donating them, it is rare that the homeless will have the opportunity to receive socks.

I hope this story changed your view on taking your socks for granted. Help us make a change and join our story!