Socktober – it’s spooky how fun donating is

Mavs in Action (MiA) is a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) that meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union. They work with the community of Mankato for volunteer opportunities. 

“Our main purpose is to connect people with volunteer opportunities and do things here on campus. We assist Community Engagement,’ said Hannah Minet, the president of MiA. “Most of the stuff we do is pretty local. We’ve made dog toys for the Blue Earth County Humane Society. We do a lot of little things like that. It’s just a really good way to get involved and do some volunteer work.” 

One of the things MiA is doing this October is Socktober. Socks, underwear, and undergarments are hard for some people to afford. It is especially hard in winter, and no one thinks of donating those types of clothing. Socktober runs from Oct. 17 to 31, and students can bring these items to any participating organization.  

Crystal Watts, the graduate assistant for Community Engagement (CE), got the idea for this last year while scrolling through social media. 

“I came across it as a fundraiser that I had seen on social media. I researched it and thought, ‘that’s a really cool idea’,” said Watts. “When people donate clothing items, they rarely donate socks, underwear, and those types of things.” 

This is not a new thing that the MiAs are doing. They did this last year and had such a great turnout that they decided to do it again this year. 

“Last year, we raised over 800 pairs of socks that was split between Partners for Housing and Connections Shelter,” said Watts. “We had sent out 10 boxes last year and were expecting people to gather between 20 and 30 pairs. So when a couple of groups stepped up and kind of went in competition with each other, that’s when we reached that 800 pairs mark.” 

The reason that they are doing this in October is that many people need more of these clothing items as the weather gets cooler. 

“Well the name Socktober fits with October. October is the time of year when a lot of different types of drives are going on,”said Watts. “This is just a unique idea of if somebody doesn’t identify with food insecurity, but they may identify with homelessness or the need for clothing and or somebody might identify with the need for winter apparel and warm things.” 

Minet explained how to get involved. 

“Organizations will get their boxes from our office and then when they’re done collecting their socks, they can bring their box back [to] either the student organizations or the students,” said Minet. 

If students want to donate socks, underwear or any undergarments, they can bring them to either a RSO participating in this or the CE office located in Centennial Student Union 173. 

Header Photo: Last year’s Socktober season resulted in over 800 pairs of socks being donated by Mavs in Action. This year, keep an eye out for more beautiful boxes to drop a pair in. Socks might not be scary, but freezing your toes off is; save someone the horror this season through a fun schoolwide event! (Courtesy Photo)

Write to Lauren Viska at lauren.viska@mnsu.edu