Matea Kanicki
Deanna Barish, Carley King, and Kelsey Droste found success in the community as they collected socks for the needy with their Socktober campaign.DeWitt Gives Back celebrated the month of October differently. The new high school club held Socktober by accepting sock donations to be given to the homeless. The event was announced in a Facebook post.
Club adviser Kelsey Droste established the club over the summer and has had a great turnout in student involvement. Droste said the DeWitt area has a big potential for donation- based causes which, inspired the mission of her club.
As Socktober is the first official event for the club, picking the theme was quite simple for Droste. “Socks are the number one needed thing for the homeless, but they are not donated much,” said Droste. “The goal is to flood the area with socks.”
Donation bins are located around DeWitt at the high school, public library, and restaurant Family Tree Cafe.
The club meets every other week and will continue to create a donation opportunity every month. Student input is a big part of this group. “We just had a discussion on Monday with ideas for the upcoming months,” said Droste, “It’s very student-led.”
The co-leaders are seniors Deanna Barish and Carley King.
“The sock bin has already felt very rewarding. We just put them out on Monday and they are already full.”
Carley King
Barish exclaimed how extraordinary it is to see how far their club is reaching. “It’s brand new and I didn’t think right away it would be a huge thing,” said Barish. Schools around the district have been making donations and spreading the word about DeWitt Gives Back.
Droste has many goals for her group as it continues to grow. “My goal is to show the high schoolers that this is bigger than just our high school.”