Mortuary to Donate Socks to Gather Church at End of February

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Newell-Hoerling’s Mortuary, along with the River Bend Pet Center and Newaukum Valley Veterinary on State Avenue, are holding a sock drive until the end of February. The Warm Hearts and Feet Sock Drive collected 250 pairs of socks last year for Gather Church.

This year, however, Micah Galvez — manager, funeral director and embalmer for Newell-Hoerling’s Mortuary — said the drive hasn’t yet received a donation.

“We have had a really slow start and I’m not quite sure why,” Galvez said. “I don’t think we got the word out as quickly as we did last year, so we haven’t had any yet and I’m sure the snow didn’t help. But we are really hoping for a large influx by the end of the month.” 

Every week, Gather Church holds a free weekly hot dog meal and sock giveaway called “Socks in the City.” Pastor Cole Meckle said this is the primary time the church distributes socks, but that they also hand them out throughout the week and at the Thursday clothing and food bank.

“It’s one of the most potentially exposed parts of a person’s attire, being on someone’s feet tromping through the northwest weather,” Meckle said. “I have experienced seeing people with their feet growing into their socks. … It’s just so necessary to get people a fresh pair of socks. It’s hard to maneuver throughout the day without dry feet.”

Galvez said he still plans to make his own donation.

“Personally, I love the feeling of putting on a brand-new pair of socks and I know not everybody has that luxury,” Galvez said. “Out there with our weather, it’s really easy to get your socks wet. If you keep wearing those for a couple days, you’re going to end up with nasty stuff.”



Galvez said that the mortuary is looking for new ways to serve the community and currently open to other ways to give back throughout the year. He said the sock drive was the first push to be more involved in the community.

“Typically, when I tell someone what I do for a living, I get one of two responses,” Galvez said. “They either kind of take a step back and recoil a little bit, or they start asking me a bunch of questions. It typically kind of just goes one way or the other. People don’t really understand what it is that we do. They don’t understand that we do this because we care — that most of our job actually revolves around caring for people who are left behind. It’s not so much about death, it’s about grief and healing.”

Galvez said that last year’s sock drive drew people into the funeral home who might have typically avoided the building.

“They came in to drop off socks, so we got to shake their hand, talk to them for a bit, get to know them,” Galvez said. “It helped a lot. … Most people avoid these places like the plague and when they do walk in, they don’t know what to expect.”

Galvez said that socks are a necessity that people don’t always consider, similar to preparing for the death of a loved one.

“It’s one of those things that is incredibly important,” Galvez said. “Foot disease, especially in homeless and people who are struggling financially — when you think about helping others, you think about feeding them or helping them with housing. You don’t think about the other necessities like socks, or toilette paper or feminine hygiene products. Things that people need to stay healthy.”