One Halifax-area woman is trying to keep feet warm on as many unhoused people as possible with the help of the community.

Nicknamed, the ‘Queen of Socks’, Mary Crosby has made it her mission to collect socks for shelters around HRM.

She tells us, with the help of her Facebook group, Socks for Shelters, she has gathered over 22,500 pairs, including knitting dozens of pairs herself – and it’s a full-time job.

“I mean my husband and I literally have road trips to pick up socks. You could e-transfer and we would do the shopping for you. We have draws every month to raise money for the group. It just exploded.”

Socks in huge demand

Crosby tells us she is no stranger to shelters, having used the resources of Bryony House herself several years ago.

That’s where she learned socks were one of the main things shelters need.

She says the feet on the homeless are not only wet, but diseased.

“It’s heartbreaking, literally heartbreaking that to think we can get up in the morning and throw on a pair of socks. These people can’t. They wear the same pair of socks and shoes over and over daily. It just multiplies for these people who don’t have a warm, dry pair of socks to put on every day like you and I are used to.”

How it all started

Crosby has been knitting since she was six years old.

She says she can whip up a pair of socks in a few days and has been making 50 pairs a year for 20 years.

Photo: Mary Crosby

Typically, she would hang them over fences in Halifax or on Christmas trees at banks or the Legion.

“Then during COVID, I decided maybe my knitting friends would like to each knit one pair that year and with my 50 pair, we could probably collect 100. Well, on the second day of the group a gentlemen reached out and said, ‘I don’t knit, can I buy socks?’ And I thought, sure, why not?'”

Huge success and going strong

It’s been nearly four years since Socks for Shelters started, and Crosby says, she never expected it to get this big and the show of support “fills her heart”.

The group now has over 12,000 members who either donate socks or money to help out and it keeps growing.

She says she thinks this year, will be their best year yet, with a new donation being posted nearly every single day.

“The first year we collected close to 5,000 pairs of socks. So yeah, it just took off. It, every year gets a little better. Last we year we collected 10,400 plus, this years’ goal is 14,000 [and] we’ve already reached 10,000.”

Photo: Socks for Shelter/Facebook

The cut off for donations is December 5, the next day they will distribute the socks to shelters and this year, they will attempt some encampments.

“I talk about it a lot because I’m really proud of it. I just can’t believe it’s done what it’s done.”