Kids learn life lessons with sock drive
Students asked to bring in donations at Argonaut school
Nobody would ever mistake a pair of socks as an instrument of healing. But it turns out that a couple of clean socks could potentially save someone’s life — or at least a foot.
That’s what students are learning this week at Argonaut Elementary School in Saratoga during national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
And just in time for the holiday season, the children are also learning empathy and the gift of giving.
“I find it astounding that we live in such a wealthy community and yet we still have so much poverty and homelessness,” said Dr. Audrey Kuang, an Argonaut PTA member who helped put the exercise together.
“I know that our kids have a hard time seeing it, so I wanted to raise awareness of it. It’s hard for our kids to wrap their heads around this issue, so I want to make it tangible for them,” said Kuang.
“I don’t expect everyone to take up the homelessness cause, but I do want to raise awareness and create a community of kindness.”
Students and parents are being asked to donate at least one pair of socks. Teachers will also be reading one of two books to their students — “The Lunch Thief” or “Sam and the Lucky Money.”
“The Lunch Thief” is about a boy name Rafael who has his lunch stolen by a classmate. Instead of starting a fight, he follows the boy and finds out that his family is homeless and decides to share his lunches with him.
“Sam and the Lucky Money” is about a boy who receives $ 4 in “lucky money” from his grandparents during Chinese New Year. He’s excited until he realizes he can’t buy much with it. His mother tells him to be happy with what he was given, but he is disappointed. That is until he comes across a homeless man and realizes the best way to spend his money is on someone who has even less.
Kuang practices internal medicine at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. She also is involved with the center’s Valley Homeless Healthcare program. This “one- stop shop” she notes, brings care to homeless individuals and other vulnerable populations, such as m grant farmworkers.
The idea of the SOCK ( Showing Our Community Kindness) program at Argonaut came to Kuang after hearing an NPR report that San Jose was the wealthiest city in the country. She said she thought this could be a good learning tool for children who don’t have to go without anything they need.
Many homeless people go without socks or clean socks, Kuang said. They can end up with infections and sores that can lead to toe or foot amputations, she said. So a clean pair of socks can go a long way.
Argonaut parent Tamami Honma said this is a great teaching tool for the students.
“I think it’s something our kids can easily understand and something that’s affordable for the parents,” Honma said.
“Even if they’re just giving one pair of socks, they can see that something small like that can affect another person’s life. It could be a time for them to think about all the things they take for granted and look deeper at their everyday lives.
For more information, go to nationalhomeless.org/ projects / awareness/ index. html.