Tammy Newbill, right, stands alongside one of her board of directors members, Deana Cahn at a Savior Socks event earlier this year.
Savior Socks is a North County nonprofit whose mission is to provide clean, dry socks to as many people in need as possible.
The organization was founded almost a year ago by Tammy Newbill and has held three fundraising events since then. In total, Savior Socks has gathered and distributed over 6,000 pairs of socks locally.
The next fundraising bash is just around the corner, Nov. 4, however, Newbill and company are thinking bigger this time around. The event — Dance Your Socks Off — is the first in a new campaign called Million Sock March. As the name indicates, Savior Socks has set a goal to reach 1 million donated socks. Newbill said motivation came from recent hurricane disasters on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
“We’re not only going to help our communities, but we’re also going to be helping the world now,” Newbill said.
Newbill said there is no timetable goal in place to reach a million socks, but said she’d like to see it happen “sooner rather than later.”
“We’re all one big family,” Newbill said. “If we all come together and unite as one, we can do it and help a lot of people.”
Dance Your Socks Off is scheduled to occur at Bethel Lutheran Church in Brush Prairie. Doors will open at 6:30 and festivities begin at 7 p.m. lasting until 10 p.m.
During the party, a raffle ticket will be given for every pair of socks donated in the evening. Newbill said the raffle will be full of good prizes which will be donated from local businesses.
Providing the tunes will be “Inversion,” starring Paki and Ramona Perkins who Newbill said are two of Vancouver’s premier musicians. “Old Rock ‘n’ Roll Queen” will also perform a set of original songs later on.
“It’s very festive,” said Newbill of the dance atmosphere. “There’s a bit of a 50’s theme to it.”
Savior Socks originally called their fundraising dance events “Sock Hop,” but changed the name recently.
“They’re a great casual time and place to be at,” said Newbill.
Newbill said she has yet to decide on how donated socks will be transported to hurricane affected areas, but said it won’t be an issue as she’s already been in contact with several options.
“We’ve got to focus on raising the socks first, then we can worry about that,” she said.
“Anyone can give a pair of socks, it’s such a small thing — but to the person who’s getting them, it’s such a big deal,” Newbill said.
