• Name: Caitlyn
• Age: 10
• Activity: Collecting socks for the needy
• Honorable-mention award: Nicki Fleming’s Whole World Collection
• Nominated by: Her mother, Traci

After hearing at a school assembly about the plight of children and their families post-Hurricane Katrina, my daughter Caitlyn came home and asked me, “Are there people in our hometown without homes, toys, and clothes?“ When I told her “yes, but not because of a hurricane,“ she looked me in the eye and asked, “Well, what are we going to do about it?“

When I told Caitlyn there are people in our hometown without homes, toys, and clothes, she asked me, “Well, what are we going to do about it“"

After analyzing what the need might be in our Ohio town, Caitlyn developed Project T.O.E.S. (Together Outfitting Everyone in Socks). In 2005 Caitlyn collected 1,400 pairs of new socks from family, friends, and local businesses. She took the adult socks to a shelter and the youth socks to a children’s services organization. In 2006, Caitlyn continued Project T.O.E.S. and collected more than 2,000 pairs of new socks for both of these organizations.

Caitlyn is shy, and this project has given her the opportunity to speak to large groups and even the confidence to be interviewed by a local TV news program. As I watch Caitlyn speaking to groups, asking for donations, collecting and sorting socks, and delivering them to those in need, my heart fills with pride that this child has chosen, unselfishly, to fill a need in our community.