Osceola Rotary Club holds sock drive

Through the months of June and July, the Osceola Rotary Club has been hosting a new type of community fundraiser to benefit local students - a sock drive.

“The Rotary Club was looking to have a project that we could get the community involved in to benefit students at both Clarke and Murray Schools,” said Rotary president Teresa Woods.

In talking with a teacher, Woods said the Rotary Club learned that there are students who oftentimes do not have socks when they come to school. By holding the sock drive, the Rotary Club can give extra socks to the schools to have on hand throughout the year. The Rotary Club will be given a matching grant by Rotary International of up to $1,000 as well for the project.

This is the first time the Rotary Club has held a sock drive, and if it is successful, they could do it again in following years, and incorporate different types of clothing items.

“Anything to benefit the community and children. We’re all about that,” said Woods.

Donated socks need to be new, and can be for any gender and size. Drop boxes are available at First Interstate Bank, American State Bank, First National Bank and Clarke County Hospital. Monetary donations are also welcome, and Rotary will use that to purchase socks.

The Rotary club is an international club that does work all over the world, including digging wells in third world countries, and providing polio vaccines. The Osceola Rotary Club has 14 members, and are always looking for more who are interested in being involved in the community. Over the years, the Rotary Club has built the bandstand on the courthouse lawn, the concessions stands at the baseball/softball fields, they annually distribute dictionaries to third graders at Clarke and Murray Elementary Schools, and annually recognize the top Clarke senior scholars.