Mid-valley car clubs team up on sock drive for the homeless | Local

“She made a couple big Christmas stockings and gave us one and them one,” Shinn recalled.

“Folks brought socks, gloves and hats. My wife probably knitted about 50 hats,” he added.

“Some people would bring maybe a dozen socks, or maybe somebody would bring just one pair,” Hood said. “It didn’t matter.”

Over the course of the year, the club members’ small acts of generosity for strangers in need really added up. Early last week, Hood reported the sock count had grown to 762 pairs, but Shinn said the number is still climbing steadily.

“Actually, you can probably count about 20 more,” he said. “One of our members just brought in about 20 pairs of socks and gloves.”

At the end of this month, the groups plan to donate the socks, gloves and hats they’ve collected to Albany Helping Hands, a local homeless shelter.

Leigh Matthews Bock, the communications and marketing manager for Helping Hands, was thrilled when she learned about the donation.

“What a beautiful thing,” she said. “I am just grinning from ear to ear. People continue to surprise me and amaze me. This is so generous!”

Helping Hands can house up to 135 people at its shelter at 619 Ninth Ave. SE and the Bailey Home, which serves mothers with children. The nonprofit can accommodate another 24 people each night in its day room, which is converted into a warming center when the sun goes down.