The month of October is an important one for those in healthcare as it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. However there are many other causes for which healthcare professionals and healthcare students choose to fight. At each Ross Medical Education Center campus, staff, faculty, and students work hard every month to make a difference in their communities and to positively impact the individuals and families around them. One of the ways that some Ross campuses choose to engage in their community is through item drives like Socktober.
During the month of October, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Charleston, West Virginia worked tirelessly to collect new socks for the local homeless shelter. Students, faculty, and staff all committed to helping those in need in their community to prepare for the winter months by bringing in socks to donate. In order to further encourage participation, each time a student donated a pair of new socks, they received a paper sock to decorate and put their name on. Once the student decorated their sock, they got to hang it on the Ross Socktober Clothes Line and watch the donations add up before their eyes.
Socktober donations were accepted throughout the entire month of October. The last day that students could donate was Halloween, October 31st. At the end of that final day of the drive, two of the paper socks were chosen at random. Those students whose names were written on the paper socks that were chosen received a Halloween goody bag. The donations really added up as some students donated a pair of socks while others donated an entire package of socks. All donations were given to the local homeless shelter and the campus was excited to provide a little bit of support and warmth to those in need in their local area.