HCAPE Foundation Holiday Sock Drive
Helping our community get back on its feet
This year, give the gift of warmth and comfort.
Each fall, paramedics at Hennepin EMS collect donations of new, high-quality winter socks in an attempt to prevent cold-weather foot injuries in the unsheltered patients that we serve every day. Many of these Minnesotans are forced to walk all day to find food, shelter, services, and medical care. This makes these patients highly susceptible to injuries like frostbite and trench foot which can result in an ambulance ride, an ER visit, a hospital admission, debilitating surgery, and long rehab. Much of this pain can be prevented with a good pair of winter socks.
Hennepin EMS and their union leadership have created a nonprofit foundation with the goal of recruiting, mentoring and training young people of color in Minneapolis in order to reduce employment barriers and increase diversity at Hennepin EMS. To bring attention to this critical work, the holiday sock drive has been moved to this new foundation. This move does not change the need or the distribution of these vital cold-weather items to those who need them.
All of our winter clothing is distributed directly to people either by paramedics on the ambulance, to patients being discharged from the ER, or through our human service partners in the community.
