12-year-old working to raise quarter of a million pairs of socks for SoCal homeless community

NORTH HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — At 12 years old, Sidney Vansleve is changing the lives of homeless individuals by collecting a simple, yet crucial article of clothing: socks.

“You don’t really know how much it contributes to your well-being until you have to go without them for a long period of time,” she said.

Socks are some of the most needed items among unhoused individuals, according to the homeless nonprofit Hope the Mission. After learning about this need, Sidney decided to collaborate with the organization to start a campaign to collect socks.

“We plan on collecting a quarter of a million socks,” she said.

In fact, 250,000 pairs is the amount needed to provide clean socks to all of Hope the Mission’s clients for one year.

“Right now, I think we’re closing in on about 200,000, and we need that final push to get us there to a quarter of a million,” said Hope the Mission CFO (and Sidney’s father) Rowan Vansleve.

Sidney says her dad was the biggest inspiration for her sock project.

“Definitely without him, I would have never aspired to do this,” she said.

“So proud to be her dad, she is a phenomenal person,” said Rowan.

Sidney says there are two ways people can donate.

You can donate using her Amazon wishlist or by visiting one of the 29 Starbucks locations on the Hope of the Valley website.

“People donate in like different packs or you can even donate just a simple pair of socks,” said Sidney.

The last day to donate socks is Monday, March 27, but Sidney’s goal just doesn’t stop there!

“I want the record to be something that’s just unbeatable,” she said.

Before the socks are dispersed, Sidney aims to break a Guinness World Record by creating the longest sentence written with socks.

“I hope the sentence will bring awareness that people are struggling and that people need to help with the homeless crisis.”

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