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Archive - Article 30
Operation Compassion Receives 250,000 Pairs Of Socks
2/4/02
January is supposed to be a slow month for benevolent agencies.
Most companies and manufacturers have released their entire stock
of excess product prior to the first of the calendar year. However,
January 2002 has proven to be one of the most successful months
during the three-year history of Operation Compassion. Not only
did Operation Compassion receive forty-nine semi truckloads of food,
bottled water, clothes, frozen meat, bakery products and sundry
items but also received a very large donation of socks.
In mid January, Operation Compassion was notified of a special
need in Afghanistan. Over one hundred thousand barefoot children
were braving a harsh, cold winter in the Afghan mountains. The need
was obvious; find socks and/or shoes to give these children a chance
to survive this winter. The staff of Operation Compassion went into
action calling contacts doing their best to procure the product
necessary. Within two days of the call, Operation Compassion was
notified it would receive a gift of 250,000 pairs of socks.
The donation was made through the generosity of Charleston Hosiery
of Cleveland, TN. Danny Smith, Vice President was thrilled to be
able to participate with Operation Compassion in this endeavor to
help the children of Afghanistan survive the winter. Many people
do not realize that Charleston Hosiery is an international company
that manufactures socks for most of the major name brands. In fact,
the donated socks were made for Nike. Mr. Smith received the final
approval from a Nike representative on Monday, January 28, 2002.
When Mr. Smith was initially contacted about the possibility of
a donation his first response was, “I was just going to call
you!” During the course of several conversations over the
next two days, Mr. Smith agreed this endeavor was a “God thing”.
Normally, there would not be any excess inventory during the month
of January. However, God knew those Afghan children would need socks
in January and provided the needed inventory to be at the right
place, at the right time, with the right people.
While this is not the first donation received from Charleston Hosiery,
the uniqueness of this gift is a first. Prior donations were unpaired
and unmatched, packaged in large gaylord boxes holding several thousand
socks. However, this donation of socks were all ready paired and
packaged by color and size for children and adults; boxed in case
lots and ready to ship in cartons on pallets. Over eighty-five pallets
of socks for Afghan children!
Operation Compassion, under the leadership of John D. Nichols,
President and David Lorency, International Field Director, has experienced
phenomenal growth and met untold challenges during the past three
years of operation. The challenge of providing socks for barefooted
children in a war torn Afghanistan winter is another example of
tireless efforts in forging many partners to meet a specialized
need around the world.
Tim Burdashaw
Communications Coordinator
Anyone interested in donating finances or products or providing
a corporate lead may contact:
Operation Compassion
David Lorency, President
114 Stuart Road, NE
Suite 370
Cleveland, TN 37312
423.728.3932 - Office
423.596.4200 - Fax
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