People experiencing homelessness are not just in cities. They are not just older people. They are not just one demographic. And they are almost everywhere: Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Kansas City, Miami, and Washington D.C. They are even in places you may not think of – like the immigrant “shelters” that are being built along the …

Stuffing envelopes, painting walls, putting together shelves and handwriting notes – what have these go to do with The Joy of Sox’s mission of providing joy to those experiencing homelessness by giving them new socks? It’s all about Villanova University giving back on their annual St Thomas of Villanova Day of Service. On Saturday September …

When students from Thomas E. Harrington Middle School in Mt. Laurel NJ decided to do a service project for the less fortunate, little did they realize that they would be setting a WORLD RECORD for Most-Sock-Ever-Collected during a K-12 school sock drive – 5,633 pairs of new socks for those experiencing homelessness. When members of …

Helping others help others. That’s what The Joy of Sox® is great at doing. St John’s Hospice, established in 1963, is a facility in Philadelphia that provides meals, support and housing for men experiencing homelessness. St. John’s was created as an outreach ministry to serve and assist the poor and homeless in the community. They continue to …

The Joy of Sox, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, that provides new socks to those experiencing homelessness earned the 2018 Platinum GuideStar Nonprofit Profile Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. By sharing metrics that highlight progress The Joy of Sox is making toward its mission, the …

An observation by Tom Costello, Jr. Chief Sock Person & Founder The Joy of Sox Earl did not talk about politics, or tragedies. He wanted to talk about Villanova basketball. He wanted to talk about turning his life around, not getting high. And he wanted to talk about socks. I listened. On a cold March …

A resolution sponsored by Senator Kip Bateman designating February 14 of each year as “Socks for the Homeless Day” has been approved by the Senate Health, Human Services & Senior Citizens Committee. “Most of us take for granted having clean socks to wear every day,” said Bateman. “Homeless people don’t have that luxury. They know …

The New World Group (NWG) is a remarkable marketing company. Not only do they excel in in positioning strategies and brand identity they also give back to the community. For 2017, The Joy of Sox (TJoS) – a nonprofit that gives new socks to the homeless – was the fortunate, and very grateful recipient of …

Santa Ana homeless get hundreds of new socks thanks to Joy of Sox intern and team of volunteers. Ken Steinhardt, of The Orange County (CA) REGISTER covered the sock pass out that Eliza Clark orchestrated. Eliza Clark of Newport Beach helped improve the comfort of homeless people in Santa Ana, Wednesday morning, Nov. 22, as …

The Joy of Sox® would like to extend a really special thanks to all of their fans, donors, interns, sock angels, volunteers, and board members who helped them earn this very prestigious award.  The award is special because only a small percentage of nonprofits get the Top-Rated rating. According to the certificate: “Your community has …

One million is a BIG number…a really BIG number. But that’s the number of toes that the nonprofit The Joy of Sox® hopes to make warm, dry and happy as a result of a mailing campaign that was conducted on September 23rd at Villanova University as part of their annual St. Thomas of Villanova Day …

The August 2017 newsletter for The Joy of Sox® has been published and features four short sections about how they are providing new socks for the homeless. The first section of “What’s Goin’ On” talks about their global impact – they recently handed out socks on the streets on London, UK. The next section talks …

The Joy of Sox® recently consolidated all its inventory of new socks into one location in King of Prussia, PA.  The nonprofit, who gives new socks to the homeless, needed the additional space to store their sock donations and the boxes of socks that volunteers put together ready for distribution to shelters. Tom Costello, Jr, …

There are emoji for lots of thing like ⚾️ baseballs and🎈 balloons.  And coming soon is an … emoji for SOCKS. So The Joy of Sox, as an Official Bronze Sponsor, adopted the Socks Emoji.  The socks emoji is not officially released yet, but will be available on your favorite device this spring. According to …

What do London, UK, San Diego, CA, Charleston, SC, New York, NY, Bear, DE and Gambell, Alaska all have in common? They are all places that The Joy of Sox® have recently sent new socks for the homeless and needy!  Clicking on the map will take you to their “map page” where you can see …

People Magazine’s PeopleNow ran a human interest story for their hometown hero segment about Tom Costello Jr and The Joy of Sox. The story consisted of an article by Cathy Free and a short TV interview via Skype by PeopleNow host Andrea Boehlke. On the show Tom respondents to three questions from Andrea Why were …

Why new socks for the homeless?   If you were asked what do you do with your old clothes when they wear our, or go out of style, like most people you’d probably say you donate them.  But what do you do with your old socks?  Mmmm.  You probably trash them because they have holes in …

The Joy of Sox®, was just awarded TOP-RATED NONPROFIT for 2016 by GreatNonprofits!!  “This is really awesome,” says Tom Costello Jr, founder and Chief Sock Person.  He continues, “This would not be possible if it weren’t for our great volunteers and donors.  They make it all possible – thanks so very much.” What Are the …

The Joy of Sox®, a nonprofit that provides new socks for the homeless, recently upgraded the security on its website.  Their site, TheJoyOfSox.org, now has HTTPS and a GREEN padlock in the address bar! What does this mean and why does it matter? Simply, it means the website is encrypted and secure. That protects any …

This is really a great thing! Today The Joy of Sox received the GuideStar Exchange’s Gold Participant level, a leading symbol of transparency and accountability provided by GuideStar USA, Inc, the premier source of nonprofit information.  This level demonstrates The Joy of Sox’s deep commitment to nonprofit transparency and accountability. We have worked hard to showcase our …

The mission of The Joy of Sox is to give joy to the homeless by giving them new socks.   On Thursday March 3rd Tom Costello, Jr, founder and Chief Sock Person, made another deliver of new socks to Our Brother’s Place (OBP), a homeless shelter in Philadelphia. Lou Baldwin (writer) and Sarah Webb (photographer) from …

What a way to start the New Year!  The Joy of Sox®, a nonprofit that gives joy to the homeless by giving them new socks, donated 1,916 pairs of new socks on January 2nd to Prevention Point and JeffHOPE. Prevention Point is a wonderful organization that among other things runs a needle exchange program for …

Since the mission of The Joy of Sox is to give joy to the homeless by giving them new socks I thought I’d share some of the metrics involved in doing this. 162,393 – Pairs of new socks given to the homeless 40,001 – Pairs of new socks donated this year 1,832  – People who …

Want to really help the homeless this holiday season? Donate new socks!  They’re among the most needed items at shelters. This is a very nice article by Michelle Woo of Reddit’s Upvoted.  Thanks so much Michelle! “Being without socks, especially during the cold and wet season, can lead to all sorts of foot ailments: blisters, …

We just published a map of the places The Joy of Sox has sent new socks for the homeless.  This is a new tool for us and we realize that it may not be completely accurate. So if you seen any errors or omissions  please contact us. And of course, if you have any comments …

This is really awesome!!  And a very special thanks to all our board members, donors, volunteers and clients who helped make this possible. The Joy of Sox® Honored as 2015 TOP-RATED Nonprofit By GreatNonprofits.org The Award is Based on Positive Online Reviews The Joy of Sox has been honored with a prestigious 2105 Top-Rated Award …

SOCK DRIVE SEASON is here (actually the homeless need new socks year round). In a survey The Joy of Sox® conducted in Denver they found that new socks are the number one item asked for at shelters.  And since they they walk everyplace and tend to wear them 24/7 socks on homeless feet wear out very …

Oklahoma and Florida. The Joy of Sox just shipped new socks for the homeless to Oklahoma and Florida. This distribution was a result of the exposure they received on Fox & Friends recently. To date, The Joy of Sox has supplied new socks to 3 countries and 26 states (plus two additional real soon), plus …

JeffHOPE and The Joy of Sox – a partnership helping the homeless Since two vital things the homeless need are medical care and new socks the partnership of JeffHOPE and The Joy of Sox really makes a positive impact the population they both serve. JeffHOPE is a volunteer program of medical students at the  Sydney …

WOW! Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Fox & Friends did a super job with the Erin Bertel and The Joy of Sox® story (Friday July 10 8:20 am). The emotional video clip shows the story of Erin and what happened when she discovered that the homeless need a vital item that they hardly ever get – new socks. …

We are very grateful to Jennifer J. Spector, DPM, FACFAS  (Cafengiu Podiatry and Sports Medicine, Marlton, NJ) for providing us with this feet and socks fact list.   It was originally written for The Joy Of Sox® to highlight the need for new socks for the homeless, but Jen’s advice really applies to everyone’s feet!  …

150,483.  That’s the amazing number of pairs of new socks that The Joy of Sox® has donated to the homeless and needy in the past four years. So a very special thanks TO all our sock angels and benefactors out there!  This could not have been done without you! And, a very special thanks FROM …

I’d like you to meet our Chief Sock Angel – Erin Bertel. Now I’m not a big fan of listing accomplishments like items on a résumé, but in Erin’s case it might be the only way to do her justice.  So, since last summer she has … •  Acted as coordinator and spokesperson for The …

North Dakota Governor, Jack Dalrymple, signed a Proclamation that February 14, 2105 (Valentine’s Day) is Socks For The Homeless Day in North Dakota. The proclamation notes that North Dakota’s homeless population nearly doubled from 2012 to 2013 and that all donations of clothing to organizations assisting the homeless are desperately needed and appreciated.  But new …

5,804 pairs of new socks for the homeless were sorted and packed by students of Cabrini College, Radnor, PA for The Joy of Sox.  It  was a great event as about 20 students separated thousands of pairs of purchased and donated socks into piles for men, women and children. They then assembled cardboard boxes and …

Since we frequently get questions about new socks for the homeless we decided to include our handout here. Click on this link to view/print “FAQ About New Socks for the Homeless.”

Imagine – whenever you buy almost anything on Amazon they automatically make a donation to The Joy of Sox! This is really cool – and a great way to support new socks for the homeless simply by shopping. Who knew that when you spend money, you can feel good because Amazon gives a portion of …

Did you know that new socks can be more important than food for the homeless?   Here’s a 2:25 audio clip of “Socks can be more important than food.”  Tom Costello Jr, founder and Chief Sock Person, for the nonprofit The Joy of Sox gives three quick examples, and the  impact, why new socks can …

A really special thanks to all of our supporters and fans who helped us earn this very cool award.  The award is special because only a small percentage of nonprofits get the Top-Rated rating. According to the certificate: “Your community has selected your organization as one of the 2014 Top-Rated Nonprofits using Great nonprofits.  You …

Do college students care? Well the students at Villanova University definitely do!! 7,488 pairs of new socks!  That a lot of socks – almost enough to give every homeless man, woman and child in the Philadelphia region one new pair of new socks! How did that happen? Well on Friday morning September 26th, 2014 members of the men’s …

New warm socks for cold feet!  One of our volunteers was headed to Alaska and heard about an event at the Downtown Soup Kitchen in Alaska. They were having a Salmon event and also requesting donations of new clothes … and socks in particular. So Gene brought a suitcase full of new socks to the …

Our friends at Comcast were nice enough to invite us back on Newsmakers.  A very special thanks to Jen Boyette, Comcast’s Governemnt Affairs Manager, and Jill Horner, on-air host, for allowing me to tell our story about providing new socks for the homeless!!  

Comcast graciously had Tom Costello Jr  on their Comcast Newsmaker program for the Philadlephia region (again).  But this time it was to talk about a sock donation from a very special person…President George Bush (41)! The show, hosted by Laura Jones and arranged by Jen Boyett, runs about 4:30 and allowed Tom to talk about …

This is amazing! President George Bush (41), who is known for wearing unusual socks, donated a new pair of socks in support of our mission. We hope to auction them off and raise lots of money. The pair of socks were beautifully framed (see photo top) and includes the note card from the President (see …

This is really super!  The Joy of Sox recently qualified for a 2013 Top-Rated Nonprofit Award. The award, from GreatNonprofits.org, is a great honor that is given less than 10% of eligible nonprofits. A special thanks to all our donors, board members and volunteers who helped, and continue to help, make us a get nonprofit! …

Comcast graciously had Tom Costello Jr on their ComcastNewsmaker program for the Philadlephia region.  The show, hosted by Laura Jones and arranged by Jen Boyett, runs 4:30 and allowed Tom to answer some questions about The Joy Of Sox and their mission of providing new socks for the homeless.  The clip of the show appears …

A WORLD RECORD number of new socks were distributed recently to the homeless of the Philadlephia area. 15,120 pairs of new socks were sorted, packed and distributed to 28 homeless shelters in the Philadlephia area!! With the cold weather approaching the timing was perfect to get the socks to those who need them. The Joy …