Giving spirit
Taylor University basketball player Keaton Hendricks donates socks to homeless
On a tour in February of Breakthrough Urban Ministries, a homeless shelter in Chicago, Taylor University men’s basketball player Keaton Hendricks saw a donation room full of jackets, pants and shirts.
He noticed one notable thing missing from the collection: socks.
It was then that he got confirmation that Sky Footwear, the company he runs out of his dorm room on Taylor’s Upland, Ind., campus, was needed more than ever. Sky Footwear donates a pair of socks to the homeless for every pair sold.
“Every time we do a handout and we go deliver the socks, there’s always a story of something that happened,” Hendricks said. “It was really cold, and they had no socks. They were even surprised when, after we handed out the socks to every resident, we told them, ‘All these boxes are yours.’ They expected that we just gave them those pairs for those residents that day, but we were able to fill out that whole bin for them in Chicago.”
Sky Footwear sells a variety of socks and styles, ranging from plain white ankle socks to colorful athletic socks and patterned crew socks. The socks are priced at $10 to $12 for a single pair, $26 to $30 for a pack of three and $125 for a pack of 11. Every cent made is reinvested into Sky Footwear so it can buy more socks to sell and eventually donate.
So far Hendricks has donated more than 4,000 socks to 11 shelters.
“We had no idea what the number would be, and we weren’t going to let the little resources we had and the limitations that we have of being college students and being in a dorm room hold us back,” Hendricks said. “We’re very proud that we have been able to donate so many socks.”
Hendricks, who started in all 33 games last season for the Trojans and averaged 13.1 points per game, spends an average of four hours every day working on Sky Footwear, on top of a full course load and basketball practices.
“He manages time so well, and he performs well in the classroom and, of course, brings it every day for us on the court,” Taylor coach Josh Andrews said. “I’m very, very proud that he’s in our program and that I’ve been able to coach him.”
His passion for helping the homeless was sparked in 2010, when he began volunteering at a homeless shelter with his father in his hometown of Bloomington, Ind. He learned that socks were the most requested item at homeless shelters, and five years later he created Sky Footwear with a teammate, Eric Cellier. Cellier has since graduated.
“It was like this is a perfect opportunity to use the ‘buy one, give one’ model and raise a bunch of socks for homeless shelters that are in need,” said Hendricks, a senior this year. “I had a little background with selling online and using the ecommerce store, so I kind of knew the process of how to ship, how to create a website and how to get a domain name.”
Hendricks, a business major, pitched the idea at a Shark Tank event held at Taylor. Upon receiving positive feedback, the two basketball players decided to put their own money into the business and ordered 10,000 pairs of socks to their dorm rooms.
“There is a lot of information that goes into a order that size, getting a shipment that size over here and all of the customs and tariffs that you have to pay for that,” Hendricks said. “It’s pretty complicated, but you know, honestly, with Google, anything is pos- sible, and you can search and figure out how to do anything. I knew that when I had this passion and this business concept, I would be able to teach myself to do the rest.”
His team fully supports him, on the court and off. Teammates wear Sky Footwear socks during games and join him once a month when Hendricks goes to homeless shelters. Some even help with the day-to-day operations.
“When you’ve got a great idea like this that affects others, I think it’s almost natural for our guys at Taylor to rally around that effort,” Andrews said. “It has been a very positive thing for our guys and our program and, I believe, even the university. There have been a lot of people who have been blessed and influenced by our guys putting some action into an incredible idea.”
Hendricks has one season left with the Trojans, and although he has no set plans for continuing Sky Footwear after college, he hopes to be able to donate as many socks as he can.
“It sounds simple, but really we’ve not set a huge goal for what we want to accomplish. We’ve just always looked at what can we do today,” Hendricks said. “Eventually this is something that I would love to continue after college if it’s available to do. But I still have a year left of college and a whole season to play, so I’m looking forward to that as well.”