The winter months are approaching and that means it is time to pull the big coat, gloves, and boots out of the closet. But many people in the area lack the basic winter essentials many of us take for granted.
For this reason, the Rochelle Township High School Key Club has decided to host a Socks to Warm the Sole donation event. The student-driven collection will gather new socks and new or gently used shoes and boots that will be donated to local shelters.
The RTHS Key Club has deemed this drive and the month of October as “Socktober.”
“The Socktober drive is a new and gently used shoe program that the RTHS Key Club decided to run for the month of October to help raise awareness and actually provide shoes and warm socks for people in the local homeless shelters in the area,” explained Danae White, Key Club advisor.
The Key Club is an organization at the school that works on at least one service project each month, while sometimes working on multiple at the same time. While hosting the Socktober drive they are also helping with a fundraiser for domestic violence and have already planned the next project — “Operation Christmas Child.”

Key club members say that helping the community isn’t something that is done periodically, but rather a continuous effort.
“Service is not a thing you do once in a while, it is having heart that recognizes a need and then sets out to fill the gap,” added White.
The Key Club is already planning a long-term project that will be announced in January that they hope will help encourage the whole school to move towards service and helping others.
The drive will take place during the entire month of October and will be accepting donations from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the RTHS main entrance. All donations will be delivered to the Rochelle Rescue Mission and the Rockford shelter if enough donations are received.
Danae White says that without the Kiwanis Golden K, the RTHS Key Club would not fully understand the importance of their efforts.
“I would like to personally thank and give great kudos to the Golden K Kiwanis group for their continued support and leadership. Without these wise mentors, the RTHS Key Club members may not fully understand the potential greatness that service through leadership can offer in making our world a better place,” said White.