'Socks of Love' campaign benefits homeless shelters

Socks are often the least donated clothing item, and therefore the most needed by regular residents of homeless shelters.

But clients of the Footprints to Recovery facility in Arlington Heights will be delivering donated pairs of socks to three shelter programs in the region, beginning with the residents of Wayside Cross Ministries in Elgin at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The remaining socks will be taken to help residents of Arlington Heights-based Shelter, Inc. and Elgin PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter).

The local action is part of Footprints to Recovery's nationwide Socks of Love campaign aimed at distributing 10,000 pairs of socks among its service areas.

Footprints to Recovery, headquartered in Chicago, runs a group of regional drug and alcohol treatment centers in Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Clients of five of the treatment centers will be hand-delivering the donated socks to shelter programs.

The donations have come from community members as well as Footprints to Recovery clients, their families, alumni, staff and business partners.

Wayside Cross Ministries, where the first local delivery will be made, is at 453 Fremont St. in Elgin.