Shoe museum puts the boots to cold with sock drive

Beginning on World Kindness Day, the Bata Shoe Museum will give everyone a chance to show their kindness by giving the gift of warmth. From November 13 to 30 the Bata Shoe Museum will be launching its first annual fundraiser, the Warm the Sole Sock Drive. Visitors to the Museum are encouraged to bring a new pair of athletic socks for distribution to those in need by Dixon Hall Resources and Support Services for Out of the Cold.
Socks are one of the first items people request when asking for assistance, and they are a staple of health care for the homeless. Everyone who donates a pair of socks to the Bata Shoe Museum will receive a special memento of their contribution to this important cause.
As an added element to this fundraiser, the Bata Shoe Museum will also be holding an online auction of hand knit socks which have been decorated by celebrities and notable members of our community. Steven Sabados and Chris Hyndman from CBC’s Steven and Chris, cast members of So You Think You Can Dance Canada and Degrassi: The Next Generation, and Jazz FM’s Ralph Benmergui will all be using their imaginations to create one-of-a-kind socks for this great cause. All funds raised through this auction will also be donated to Dixon Hall to further the struggle against homelessness in our community.
On November 13 , from 5 – 8 p.m., the community knitting group Casting Off the Cold will be doing a knitting demonstration at the Museum and the celebrity socks will be on display for the first time. Visit the website www.batashoemuseum.ca for more details on the celebrity sock auction.

Everyone who donates a pair of socks at the Museum on Saturdays and Sundays during the  Warm the Sole Sock Drive will receive free admission. Visitors who donate a pair of socks on November 22  will also receive free admission to a special reading by children’s author Musharraf Farooqi of his new book The Cobbler’s Holiday or Why Ants Don’t Wear Shoes.