St Nicholas Episcopal Church Seeking "New Socks For New Friends"
As the weather gets colder, the need to keep warm and dry increases. It's easy for us to go to the dresser or the dryer, get a clean pair of socks, slip them on and we're set. Sadly, so many needy people, right here in the villages and towns of northeastern Illinois, are not so fortunate as to have clean socks, or a dresser to keep them in. Can you help to ensure that needy and homeless people have warm, dry feet in the bitter cold of winter?
The community of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church will collect new socks throughout the winter season. Donated socks can be placed in the basket that will be on display the the lobby of the church, next to the Welcome Table. The collected socks will be distributed to the needy to help make their winter a bit warmer, dryer and safer. Your generosity and assistance are deeply appreciated.
As it happens, St Nicholas has a long-standing affection for stockings, as our patron saint is well known for stuffing them with gifts beginning on his feast day, December 6th. You might have received highly decorated stockings filled with goodies on Christmas each year, but originally they were just ordinary socks filled with simple gifts of fruit or nuts (or in some parts of Europe, shoes were put out for "St Nick" to fill with goodies).
Decorative stockings also remind St Nicholas members of one of their most beloved parishioners, the late Carmen McCall, who wore interesting and colorful socks every week to church. She passed away in October of 2007, yet is still remembered in prayer, and many continue to be inspired by her selfless example of courage and grace.
The writer, a parishioner at St Nicholas, noted in a blog post from 2007:
"Carmen was a feisty older lady who, in the last couple of years of her life, had major health problems. She had lived in Indiana and was very involved in volunteer work there and in Illinois – especially in the area of AIDS hospice care and also at senior citizen homes. Her son is gay, and she always found the time to care for his friends and hug them, especially when they were lonely or hurting.
She loved animals, especially owls. When I first met her, she was using a walker to get around, and toting an oxygen tank in its carry-basket, and sported an owl rescue group's sticker on the front bar. She had a real thing for wild and crazy socks, and one of the kids in the congregation always compared socks with her each week.
She was a gallant, plucky, forthright lady, and although she had emphysema and lung cancer, she never had a self-pitying word for herself, and always had compassion and a cheerful word or hug for anybody in trouble."
Carmen McCall truly was a lovely and amazing lady, and she had the socks to prove it. The people of St Nicholas are proud to participate in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago's "New Socks for New Friends" program, because they know that Carmen would expect no less from them.
If you'd like to help, drop off clean new socks at the church in the basket provided in the lobby. Wool socks, which can still insulate against the cold even if wet are best, so long as they are smooth and soft against the feet.
St Nicholas Episcopal Church is located at:
1072 Ridge Ave
Elk Grove Village IL 60008
Phone: 847-439-2067
Email: info@stnicholasepiscopal.org
Web: http://www.stnicholasepiscopal.org