Young Vaughan residents make warm feet their mission
Ward 4 Civic Hero Award presented to Odd-Sox Project founders Carly Goldhar and Charley Rangel
Ten-year-olds Carly Goldhar and Charley Rangel had one goal when they jumped feet first into launching the Odd-Sox Project — to outfit 10,000 cold feet one sock at a time. In recognition of their leadership and spirit of giving, they were presented with the Civic Hero Award for Ward 4 by Vaughan Council yesterday.
The two Thornhill Woods Public School students started the Odd-Sox Project with the hopes of collecting 5,000 pairs of mismatched socks to donate to homeless and women’s shelters after discovering socks are one of their most needed items. Recognizing that many people face the unfortunate “missing the other sock” situation, Goldhar and Rangel worked to gather lightly used single socks from the community. During after-school hours and on weekends, they would sort and pair the socks and deliver them to various shelters in the GTA.
Through Goldhar and Rangel’s outreach, they’ve partnered with a number of shelters that are keen to participate. They continue to co-ordinate sock drives on the weekends to allow the community to drop off their sock donations at local businesses. To date, the girls have collected more than 12,000 pairs of socks.
As word of the Odd-Sox Project spread, more businesses jumped on board to donate new socks. Goldhar and Rangel are now holding sock drives at local stores and malls, and are using their website and social media accounts to promote their cause. They’ve also recruited a number of student volunteers to assist with running the sock drives and distributing the donations to shelters.
QUOTES
“Carly and Charley are inspiring examples of dynamic and engaged young leaders. I am impressed by their passion, dedication and motivation to give back to their community. Through the Odd-Sox Project they have demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of helping others through meaningful acts of generosity. At a very young age they have embraced their responsibility as citizens to make a contribution. Their efforts have inspired a community, generated awareness and most importantly touched the lives of many. On behalf of the City of Vaughan, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Carly and Charley for showing us that everyone can play a role in making a difference.”
-Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua
“Carly Goldhar and Charley Rangel are two inspiring young people whose leadership and vision make them so deserving of the Civic Hero Award. Their hard work and caring contributions to the community will have a lasting impact. I want to offer my thanks to these girls for setting such a positive example for youth everywhere, while reinforcing the notion that community involvement can take place at every level and that anyone has to the power to make a difference.”
-Ward 4 Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco
QUICK FACTS
- The Civic Hero Award is presented annually to residents from each of Vaughan’s five wards
- The awards recognize outstanding achievement and individual contributions to the community
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