Foster Love’s Socktober Campaign Is On Its Way!

Foster Love is excited to announce that our 2025 Socktober campaign is almost here!

Every October, communities rally together for this month, knitting socks and donating pairs to local homeless shelters. This year, we’re continuing our work to support children in foster care, who are one of the most vulnerable populations at risk for homelessness, with 31-46% of former foster youth experiencing homelessness by age 26.

What started as a simple idea has grown into a wonderful opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of kids who too often go without the basics.

Last Year’s Success

Last year, thanks to our partners at Bombas, our Socktober campaign delivered over 57,500 pairs of new socks to children across the country. We worked with local shelters, foster care agencies, and community centers to ensure every box of donated items reached the children who needed them most. Each box included socks, underwear, and t-shirts to give kids not only warmth, but also dignity. Thanks to our supporters, last year’s Socktober campaign became one of our biggest success yet, and we can’t wait to build on that momentum in 2025.

READ MORE: Foster Love’s Nationwide 2024 Socktober Success

What to Expect from Foster Love’s Socktober Campaign

This year, Foster Love is ready to getting brand-new socks into the hands of kids and families in need. Thanks to our continued partnership with Bombas, thousands of socks are already being donated to us. All we ask of supporters is to contribute the cost of shipping so we can get these socks directly to children across the country.

And that’s not all—our matching campaign is returning! Last year, The Foxwynd Foundation provided a generous $25,000 grant to support the Rapid Response program, in addition to a matching campaign that raised over $50,000 to support transition-aged foster youth.

READ MORE: $25,000 Foxwynd Foundation Grant to Support Homelessness Prevention

While the exact details are still in the works, you can expect your generosity to stretch even further this Socktober. Last year, matching helped double the number of socks distributed, and we’re excited to share all the details very soon.

We encourage you to spread the word online! Post about your upcoming sock donations, share your sock patterns, or highlight your group’s drop-off box. Share the link to your Foster Love Socktober fundraisers (coming soon!) and get more participants involved in the movement.

When you spread the word, you help us reach audiences across the country and even across the world. We’re excited to see even more people join in Socktober the whole month long!

Why Socktober Matters

Each night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, we want 2 million people to show that even a small act of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless.  —happysocktober.com

It’s easy to overlook socks as a necessity, but for children in foster care, they are one of the most requested, but least donated items. Many kids enter foster care with only the clothes on their backs, and new socks can be a small but powerful source of comfort. For families living in poverty or children placed in homeless shelters, socks also help with safety, hygiene, and daily stability.

By joining our Socktober campaign, you help provide not only socks but also a reminder that every child deserves to feel cared for.

Inspired to Do More? Here Are More Socktober Ideas!

For groups looking to do more to help out this holiday season, Socktober is the perfect starting place.

Schools, clubs, and workplaces can organize sock drives or fundraisers, collecting pairs for donation while strengthening teamwork. Families can turn the effort into a tradition, kids can help hang posters at the community center, and neighbors can create party spots for drop-offs.

Here are just a few ways you can participate:

• Knitting Socks Together: Celebrate your favourite sock knitting month by creating socks using free sock patterns, ZaneteKnits sock patterns, or even older favourites appearing on the Ravelry forum.
• Donate NEW Pairs of Socks: Not into knitting? No problem! You can simply donate socks to local shelters or create care boxes with socks and extra treats for kids.
• Community Drives: Host a sock rally at your school, office, or community center. Invite students, neighbors, family, and friends to join in collecting socks and raising funds.
• Online Engagement: Share your Socktober campaign activities, join the conversation on social media, and encourage your community to get involved. Use tags like #HappySocktober or post a comment to inspire others to act.

The process is simple, but the message is powerful: when a community joins together, small acts like sock donations can transform lives.

Visit the Socktober website to learn more! https://www.happysocktober.com/

A Wonderful Opportunity for Everyone

Socktober is more than just a campaign; it’s a movement. Every October, more people join to make an impact, from students raising funds at school to knitters sharing sock patterns in more languages. Party spots, classrooms, and even virtual gatherings become places where people come together to create, post, and support one another.

The beauty of Socktober lies in its flexibility. You can knit, donate, or fundraise. You can involve young people or organize with your workplace. No matter how you contribute, every effort adds to a wave of kindness that reaches children in foster care and shelters across the country.

How Foster Love Makes a Difference

At Foster Love, every pair of socks donated is delivered directly to children who need them most. Through partnerships with local homeless shelters, foster care agencies, and foster care programs, we coordinate the process from start to finish.

This means when you contribute to the Socktober campaign, you’re not just sending socks—you’re helping create moments of normalcy and warmth for children who often go without. Something as simple as a fresh pair of socks can provide a sense of pride for a child heading to school, or bring comfort on a cold night in a new home.

Our mission has always been to surround kids in foster care with love, support, and essentials that remind them they matter. And this Socktober, thanks to Bombas and our incredible community of supporters like you, we’ll continue that mission in a way that reaches even more children nationwide.

Join in Socktober 2025!

The countdown is on! Socktober 2025 is your chance to join our mission and bring joy to kids who deserve it most. Gather your friends, neighbors, or coworkers, start a sock drive, or share your knitting patterns online.

Stay tuned for all the details, fundraising tools, and info on how to host your own community’s sock drive.

Let’s join together to make a real difference and support kids in foster care across the country. Happy Socktober!