WS Chronicle

HanesBrands celebrated Giving Tuesday in a major way earlier this week when employees kicked off their annual Holiday Sock Drive by donating more than 2,000 socks, and 500 pieces of underwear to those in need at Samaritan Ministries. 

Since 2009, Hanes, America’s top apparel brand, has held the national sock drive to assist the homeless during the holidays. Throughout the week, members of the HanesBrands executive team will distribute socks, underwear and fleece at the Bethesda Center, Salvation Army, Winston-Salem Rescue Mission as well as Samaritan Ministries, where the campaign kicked off on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

This year in the Winston-Salem area alone, Hanes is expected to donate 10,000 pairs of socks and 2,000 pairs of underwear. According to CEO Gerald Evans, socks and underwear continue to be the most requested items.

Evans, who has been with Hanes for more than 30 years, said as a company that is anchored here in Winston-Salem, the company feels strongly about giving back to the community.

“The sock drive is one that we’ve done for eight years and we’ve given away 2 million socks and it’s just our way of giving back to those in need” Evans said.

“One of the most frequently needed and requested items are socks and underwear, and we’re one of the leading manufacturers of socks in the world, so it’s natural for us to join in.”

During a brief interview with The Chronicle before helping residents pick the right fleece apparel at Samaritan Ministries, Evans also mentioned that most of the items given away were manufactured right up road in Mt. Airy.

“Not only are we giving away socks but we’re giving away socks that were manufactured right here in North Carolina, so that’s a nice twist that makes us proud as well.”

During the kickoff celebration earlier this week, Evans and other members of the executive team also helped serve lunch to nearly 600 homeless individuals at Samaritan Ministries on Northwest Boulevard. Matt Hall, chief communications officer, traveled from St. Louis to participate in the giving . He said HanesBrands has built a culture of giving that carries over to the employees. 

“We have a great volunteer culture at HanesBrands. Collectively we donate thousands of hours of our time every year,” said Hall. “We have a really strong culture of giving back to the community and it’s kind of infectious for the employees, and Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to show what we’re all about.”

Visit www.hanes.com/sockdrive to learn more about those experiencing homelessness, get information about the organizations participating in this year’s sock drive and find out how to support homeless-relief initiatives in communities across the country.