A Simple Holiday Helper for Senior Citizens [AUDIO]

When Jamie and Kitty Coyne started Socks for Seniors about ten years ago, they wanted to start a program that was easy and helped senior citizens in nursing homes by collecting an item as simple as socks.

The husband and wife had visited nursing homes, and one woman told them that have a good, clean pair of socks would really help her day. With that, the idea was hatched.

"It's a collection to gather new socks for senior citizens in nursing homes that are distributed just prior to Christmas," Coyne said.

Local sock drives are set up and the charity works with each area to make the program run efficiently.

"Once the sock drive is over, we network them with a nursing home or assisted living community to have them distributed," he explained, "and that's it."

The drive kicks off annually in the 3rd weekend in October, running until just before Christmas. Coyne said that having a program that is not money-based, just collection-based, was very important.

"There are so many worthy causes, especially around the holidays that are in need of money," he said "we found that one of the greatest benefits of the program was that it wasn't about money in any way."

Not only does the charity help a need for clean socks for senior citizens, the process offers conversation and interaction outside of just their normal caregivers.

"Senior citizens are often overlooked or forgotten about, especially during the holidays," Coyne said, "the program is more than just a pair of socks."

To become involved or learn more about the charity, click here.

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