After less than a month of involvement, an instructor at the Toledo, Ohio TONI&GUY Hairdressing Academy is knocking the socks off a local charity. Hannah’s Socks named Lindsay Butler the May 2010 Volunteer of the Month, an award bestowed on a person who best reflects the generous spirit of the organization’s founder Hannah Turner.
Butler received the award for giving time and energy in support of the Hannah’s Socks cause. She became involved in Hannah’s Socks through a client she built a relationship with while she worked in a salon, prior to her time at the TONI&GUY Hairdressing Academy. She said the more she learned about the organization the more she wanted to become involved – it’s just part of her nature to want to help others.
“They’re non-profit and they reach out to the community,” Butler said. “And it was all started by a little girl.”
The Toledo-area not-for-profit organization began in 2004, when then-4-year-old Hannah helped serve Thanksgiving dinner at Toledo’s Cherry Street Mission, according to their Web site. She became concerned when she saw a man wearing split, broken shoes but no socks, and offered to give the man her socks.
The next day, Doris and Hannah Turner purchased and distributed socks at local homeless shelters and the initial steps for Hannah’s Socks took shape. Within the first two years, Hannah, Doris and Vic Turner, with the support of others in the community, distributed nearly 10,000 pairs of socks to partner shelters. The organization now focuses on providing clothing necessities such as men’s, women’s and children’s socks and undergarments to partnership shelters in Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
Hannah’s Socks’ Web site touts Butler as the May 2010 Volunteer of the Month for her help with the first-ever Hannah’s Socks Sock Hop that took place May 21, coordinating a recent sock drive and organizing two permanent sock drop-off locations. Butler rallied her teammates at the TON&GUY Hairdressing Academy, who dressed in their ‘50s finest and jitterbugged over to the Sock Hop in support of Hannah’s Socks. The academy also donated VIP gift bags for those in attendance – black ribbon-tie toiletry bags full of goodies including a free haircut certificate and samples of the new Catwalk Your Highness hair products. Butler and TONI&GUY Hairdressing Academy Education Director Ashlee Griggs styled eight mannequin heads to fit the ‘50s theme, which then served as centerpieces for the Sock Hop.
Hannah’s Socks Vice President of Operations Keith Johns said while a young girl’s taking action launched Hannah’s Socks, the up swell of local support from friends, neighbors and generous businesses has really propelled the organization to the wide-ranging impact Hannah’s Socks has today.
“We were pleased at our recent Sock Hop fundraiser to have volunteer Lindsay Butler of Toledo step up big-time and land us baked good donations from Wixey (Bakery), VIP bags from TONI&GUY, plus she helped make centerpieces for the party and sent out invitations galore,” Johns said via e-mail correspondence. “It's wonderful to see Hannah inspire individuals such as Lindsay and businesses such as TONI&GUY to support their community and help make a difference in people's lives."
For more information on Hannah’s Socks, visit the organization’s Web site. Learn more about donations or volunteering here.