P.S. 255 Students Donate More Than 1,500 Socks To Local Women’s Shelters
Children at P.S. 255 proudly displayed the contributions for their winter sock drive — which will go to local women’s shelters — on Wednesday in the school lobby.
“It looks like a million socks,” one student remarked as she walked past the arrangement of footwear in a variety of colors, stripes and materials.
The actual total of the haul was considerably less, but it was still an achievement for the elementary schoolers. When they started the sock drive two weeks ago, the students set a goal of bringing in 1,000 donations. They ended the effort with 1,512 pairs, according to school staff.
“It’s really cold outside and we just wanted to make people smile and make them warmer in the winter,” said 10-year-old Mila Zlotnik, president of the Student Council. “We feel very well. Once we raised over a thousand pairs, we set another goal. But just knowing that even if we got 100 or 1,000 pairs, it would still be great because you’re still helping someone.”
The student council organized the charity drive, and elected to collect socks so that all the students at the school would have a chance to participate, regardless of means.
“The kids got really excited about it,” said fourth grade teacher Ms. W, who is the student council facilitator. “Socks are very easy to get. We really wanted it to be something that everyone would be able to do.”
City Councilman Chaim Deutsch, who helped the school identify shelters in need, came down to congratulate the students on their achievement.
“Today is really a great day for 1,512 people,” Deutsch told the kids. “You made it your business to not overlook other people in need and you should all be proud of each other.”
Deutsch brought in an article from the Daily News about a police officer who was photographed in 2012 buying a pair of boots for a shoeless homeless man on a cold November night.
“This officer expected nothing in return,” Deutsch emphasized. “And this homeless man didn’t thin he was wanted, he didn’t think people cared. But people cared. And the children here really care. You are my role models.”
It wasn’t just generosity that contributed to the success of the sock drive. The class that brought in the most pairs was also promised a pizza party. However, almost all of the students got involved in the effort: considering P.S. 255 has 920 students, according to Principle Kelly McCann, the size of the haul indicates that 1.5 pairs were donated on average by every student.
“The smile on a person’s face is a reward that’s good enough,” said nine-year-old Oleksandr Khodak, the student council historian.