Lake Grove Third Grader Donates Over 500 Pairs of Socks to Homeless

When Cayuga School student Bobby Keenaghan found out his third grade class was collecting socks to donate to the homeless, he wanted to go above and beyond donating just a few pairs of socks.

Bobby told his father, Lake Grove resident Robert Keenaghan, he needed to bring in as many socks as they can buy because he wanted to help as many homeless people as possible (and win a pizza party for donating the most socks!)

"My first instinct after hearing about it was to pick up a pack of socks next time I run to Costco, however Bobby really wanted to help these people out more than just by donating a pack of socks," he told Patch in an email.

That's how Robert and his wife, Kristen, came up with the idea to donate a large order of socks that they ordered for the clothing store they own in Riverhead, EPIC Jeans, to Bobby’s class to give to the homeless.

The order consisted of over 500 pairs of socks.

"Bobby thought this was the greatest idea and couldn’t wait to bring in all these socks," his father said. "In fact, when the day finally came, it was so many that we had to make several trips from the car just to bring in all the large bags filled with new pairs of socks. "

According to Robert, this got a lot of attention from the whole school and little Bobby was quite the talk of the town. His class even won the coveted pizza party for donating the most socks.

"Something as mundane as having clean, dry socks that you or I might take for granted, can actually make a huge difference in the lives of people who are less fortunate," he said. "Whether it’s a pack of socks or an old jacket that they no longer use, these items can go a long way in making someone’s life a little better this season."

In total, throughout the entire month the school collected a total of 2,351 pairs of socks to donate.