1,501.
I've been waiting to make that announcement. That's what they did. 1,501 pairs of socks this semester to give to people experiencing homelessness in Denver, Colorado.
These students began the semester with a historical research packet - which led to a deeper understanding the source of homelessness, the migrant situation, the economic/living situation in Venezuela, and sanctuary cities.
They created digital shorts - both written and visual that can be utilized on X, IG, FB, TikTok. They created business-sized resource cards (in English and Spanish)with a QR code that links to a document where helping resources in Denver are located (this required an inordinate amount of research). They sold cookies in Union and had a pickle ball tournament to bring awareness and raise funds. They started a GoFund Me. They attended a community engagement day to share their learnings (and try to win more money to buy MORE socks).
We had amazing conversations about policy and its impact on humans; most importantly how you can not agree with a policy AND STILL be empathetic, kind, and giving towards the humans impacted by policy.
Today they had the opportunity to meet with Chris Christensen, a University of Northern Iowa alum who is a Homelessness Impacts Investigator for Denver Public Health and tell her they were able to purchase (and have donated) 1,501 pairs of socks.
Her response? "I just can't believe it, like I really can't. I'm so impressed and I hope that you take this experience and this for other people that you will never meet, most likely, and just pay it forward. Show other communities this as you get older, show your kids this as they grow, bring this into your workplaces. Keep taking this love for others and just send it forward. Cause it's amazing. And it's what we have to do so I just wanna thank you guys and my team thanks you, too."
So - thank you Marquette Millam, Holden McGraw, Tanner Onken, Averiana Ramker, Madeline Schobert for your dedication to this project and people you don't (and likely won't) know, that is a servant's heart at its best. I'm so proud to know all of you.
#servantheart #leadership #homeless #denverco #colorado #denver #migrant #migrantcrisis #serving #servantleadership #socks #communityengagement #service #servicelearning
A mission-focused creative dedicated to serving others.
2moGo, Team Lendmark!