KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Most people may have an average somewhere between 10-20 pairs of socks in their drawer right now. But how about 14,000?
That's the reality for one Kansas City, Kansas, woman who says she's not keeping them all for herself.
"I don’t have any children, so my motto or my mission statement for myself is to help make somebody else’s child’s better," said Charlesetta Jackson, or Miss Jackson as she's known around New Chelsea Elementary School.
At the school, she's the community resource parent liaison.
Jackson saw KSHB 41's story on a Bombas sock donation in September and decided to give it a try. She ended up receiving 52 boxes, 14,000 pairs of socks, all for her students.
"I have seen kids who come to school and they might have shoes, but they don’t have any socks," she said.
So the school threw a "Sock Week." Each student got two pairs, then the faculty as well parents. Jackson even gave some away to the FedEx men who deliver to the school.
"It’s about the kids, and some of the kids the day they received the socks said, ‘Oh man, I needed socks,'" Jackson said.
Jackson gets emotional when speaking about her kids. She says she loves each one as her own, and this isn't the first time she's done some good for the school.
"I was not surprised," said Shonielle Roberson, New Chelsea Elementary's principal. "Our families are well taken care of because of her."
Jackson has organized a Harvesters truck to come to the school and give out food to the families and is working to get each kid a goody bag of school supplies and clothes.
"The families are happy to have her, and New Chelsea Elementary is absolutely happy to have her with her heart of gold," Roberson said.
Jackson still has quite a few socks left and hopes to give them to other schools in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools district. She also plans to donate some to her church.
There may also be a second "Sock Week" in the future.
But in the end, the most important hope of this act for Jackson is that she wants the kids to know someone supports and loves them.
"That they (the kids) know their community cares about them," Jackson said. "It’s a great place (New Chelsea Elementary), it is, and I’m, I’m grateful."
