It's easy to take the basic necessities of life, such as clothing, food, and clean amenities for granted -- something that the workers at Solvista, Loaves and Fishes, and other community partners are grateful to contribute toward.
In the summer of 2021 when the world was still steeped in the COVID-19 pandemic, Marci Harrison (a Solvista co-responder who worked alongside the Cañon City Police Department) applied to Bombas for a donation of socks for the community. Though it would take several years, the application was eventually accepted.
"I just saw the dier importance of having that base of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," Harrison said. "I've been a Bombas wearer for three or four years now and I was impressed with what they do for communities."
Bombas is a clothing company that sells socks, t-shirts, and underwear around the globe but with a unique attribute -- for every pair of clothing that they sell they automatically donate one pair to one of 3,500 community partners around the United States. Harrison decided that it was time to apply to be one of those 3,500 partners and sent the application with high hopes in 2021.
Before she knew it, two years had elapsed and the application faded into the background. Two months ago, however, she received the good news that Solvista had been selected as a community partner, and a whopping 3,000 pairs of socks would be donated to the organization to do with as they pleased.
Solvista quickly reached out to Loaves and Fishes and asked if they had used some extra pairs of socks.
"We called DeeDee Clement [Loaves and Fishes executive director] and said, 'Hey we've had this great gift, would you like some?' and they were really excited," said Jill Anderson, Solvista's Director of Development. "They [the socks] are mostly to fortify our partners."
On April 21, Solvista employees traveled to Loaves and Fishes to complete the highly anticipated donation of 1,500 pairs of socks. In addition to the 1,500 pairs donated to Loaves and Fishes, Solvista reached out to their sister facility, the Regional Assessment Center in Salida, to donate another large portion of the clothing. According to Anderson, Solvista plans to keep a few pairs in their closet but hopes their community partners can make the most out of the much-appreciated Bombas donation.
"I would like to think that if I were in their position that somebody would do that for me," Harrison commented. "It's great to find an organization that fills that need."
Though summer is rapidly approaching, and socks may not be as needed as during winter, you can bet that local community-centered organizations will be prepared whenever the need for warm feet arises.
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