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Vermont Organization Distributes Childrens’ Socks
Gov. Douglas helps Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont employees load boxes of socks at Cabot Hosiery Mills in Northfield. From left are Nina Hurley, Douglas, Beth Lewis, and Megan Peek.
Vermont Organization Distributes Childrens’ Socks
Ten thousand pairs of top quality merino wool socks found their way to needy Vermont youngsters last week thanks to the joint efforts of a charitable foundation affiliated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, a Northfield sock maker, and the state’s community action agencies.
Governor James Douglas joined representatives of Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc. at a news conference last Monday at the Northfield sock maker’s factory to announce the initiative. Douglas praised the “Blue Socks for Kids” project as an excellent example of private Vermont organizations working together to help their neighbors during difficult economic times.
The Vermont Caring Foundation, a non-profit charitable foundation whose mission is to advance and improve the health of Vermonters, provided $25,000 to finance the initiative and Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc. of Northfield, the state’s (and Northeast’s) only sock maker, produced 10,000 pairs of socks specifically for “Blue Socks for Kids.” The state’s community action agencies and seven homeless shelters will distribute the socks to Vermont’s neediest children.
Research from the United States and Canada indicates that warm underclothing is high on the list of needs among the low income and homeless living in cold climates. An Oregon summit on the needs of low income folks and the homeless in winter came up with two priorities – socks and health care.
“The purpose of The Vermont Caring Foundation is to improve Vermonter’s health, particularly children,” explained Kevin Goddard, Vice President of External Affairs for BCBSVT. “We felt this would be a good way to help keep Vermont kids warm and healthy this winter.”
Cabot Executive Vice President Ric Cabot expressed his company’s excitement with partnering with The Vermont Caring Foundation and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. “This partnership will get new, quality Vermont made socks onto the feet of kids in these trying times for many Vermont families,” Cabot noted.
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