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The students gathered about 500 pairs of socks, and they were delivered Friday afternoon to the New Covenant House of Hospitality at 90 Fairfield Ave.
Eighth-grader Mason Perkins, the driving force behind the sock collection, is the local representative for Sox Warm Hearts, a national community outreach program that aims to give socks to those in need. She decided to forgo gifts on her 12th birthday last year and instead asked for socks that she could donate.
The guidelines are simple, Perkins said.
"We need brand new socks, kids, men, women's, as long as they are brand new," she said.
She took the sock-giving idea to school, where it was adopted quickly. That result was 650 pairs of donated socks, which were given to New Covenant House last year from her birthday and from the school drive.
This year, another drive was held in school, resulting in 500 pairs of socks.
Fellow student Hannah Nekritz joined Perkins in making the donation Friday.
"I just try to get involved in as much community service as possible," Nekritz said. "I think it's unique, so I like it."
Betsy López, program coordinator at New Covenant, said the sock donation is a major one.
"This is one of the biggest ones that we have," she said. "Most donations we do get are personal items like toiletries."
New Covenant tends not to take donations of clothing such as jackets and other bulkier items because of a lack of storage space, Lopez said. They do take smaller items such as gloves, scarves and socks.
"The main thing we do is food so this is an extra bonus for our guests, especially now with the cold that we are having," she said. "This is an extra treat for them."
The facility is located in the rear of the Yerwood Center at 90 Fairfield Ave. but will be moving to its new 8,000-square-foot home at 174 Richmond Hill Ave. in the spring said New Covenant Executive Director John Gutman.
The facility serves lunch and dinner daily, with about 100 people showing up for lunch and about 75 for dinner, Gutman said.
New Covenant will be able to handle more clothing once it moves into its new space, he said.
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