Happy Socktober

Happy Socktober 

by Felicia Ingram 

Socktober, an invention of word play and a West Tennessee man’s good heart is ready for a sixth season. Brad Montague is the creator Kid President and the guy who put the sock in Socktober.

This new age annual tradition might be getting international recognition and celebrity endorsements, but the fibers of the project were all locally grown. This is especially true for this year’s launch of HappySocktober.com. The website for the month-long initiative is designed to encourage students, adults, and community members to give the most overlooked item to those most overlooked by society.

The DevCatalyst students who coded the site were proud to launch the site a week ago at Brad Montague’s workshop. Student Colton Cronin was happy to put his skills “to good use on a project that actually matters.” And the project itself is the epitome of the message that Montague strives to make through Kid President.

Through joyful rebellion, Montague wants others to realize the great things that can happen through collaboration. Every step of the way, each team member used their talents to make a difference, just in the same way Montague uses his gift of storytelling to impact the world. The DevCatalyst brought their web coding skills, local user experience design firm Sodium Halogen made use of what they had lying around, and theCO’s Educational Outreach Coordinator Molly Plyler used her natural leadership ability to make it all happen. These little things added up to make a huge difference.

The beauty is Socktober is that everyone can get involved. Kids and adults can use what they have to participate in the movement. Whether through donating hundreds of socks and keeping it quiet or using talents and skills to spread the word, every act is needed. The site is designed to allow donors to share their stories not only with communities but also the world. The tools needed to start a drive are also on the site for easy prints and downloads. Now it’s time for you to get started. In the words of Kid President, use the internet to do something awesome. You can drop off socks and other necessities for our homeless community at theCO during the month of October. All donations will be given to local non-profit RIFA. Share your #socktober story on social media for the chance to be featured on the Socktober website, HappySocktober.com.