2Day FM’s third annual Sock Drive came to a close in a big way on February 2nd, with over 2,700 pairs of socks donated directly to Wapiti House in Grande Prairie.
Sheri Schlyter, Hybrid Outreach Team Lead at Wapiti House says the donation means warmth for their clients, and with Grande Prairie’s notoriously frigid winters, warming products are always a welcome donation at the house.
“It means warmth for our clients, obviously with these cold winters we get here we have a lot of individuals that come with frostbite and close to frostbite,” she says. “It’s something we never have enough of because sometimes we have 130 to 200 people accessing the shelter.”
Schlyter says the organization is grateful, as socks are a “hot commodity” for the house, with a variety of uses even off your feet.
“Oftentimes when we are out of mittens we use them as mittens, sometimes you need four pairs of socks because you don’t have the right footwear, you can use them to wrap a cut, they are used for a lot around here,” she says. “You can put them pretty much anywhere on your body, they’re very resourceful.”
Donations are always accepted at Wapiti House, and officials say socks, toiletries, towels, bedsheets, and hygiene products are among the most needed items.
