SJASD students and staff are doing their part to help the underhoused stay warm.

Throughout the fourth annual Socktober/Mittens for Mitch campaign, the SJASD community collected a whopping 1,793 socks, mittens, hats and scarves. That works out to 1,543 socks, 68 hats and scarves, and 182 mittens.

Schools and buildings collected the new outerwear throughout the month of October and donated it to OPK, a charity that undertakes extensive outreach work with Winnipeg's houseless community.

Jeremy Raven (pictured below, left) has volunteered with OPK for four years and attended a special assembly at Bruce Middle School to officially donate the items. He also runs two sober living houses for men, and works with men and boys involved in the justice system. He is currently exploring educational pathways towards a Bachelor of Social Work and is a Firekeeper and a Pipe Carrier.

“Kindness is contagious. They really filled my cup together and now we are going to do the same for someone else, and it will keep going," he explains after the assembly.

Jeremy spoke to SJASD students last month about the city's underhoused relatives and helped students work on their donation campaign strategy.

“[The underhoused] don't have the resources to get into affordable housing," he points out.

Jeremy regularly conducts outreach that includes community walks, visiting relatives, bringing them supplies, and working with others to set up tipis with fires and firewood. But staying warm and dry is an ongoing challenge during Winnipeg's bitterly cold winters.

“Mittens and socks and toques are going to be helping them with that," he explains. “It's not just about handouts, but the hand up that is needed."

As an Indigenous man that has turned his life around despite the heartbreaking impact of intergenerational trauma, he understands how hard it is for the underhoused to get unstruck. Some are suffering from addiction, mental health issues, and the impact of Residential Schools.

“This is one of the kind gestures of giving back. We see you, we hear you, and we're showing our appreciation with students collecting this to give back in a Good Way," he explains.

Bruce Middle School Vice Principal Norm Gould helped spearhead the Division-wide campaign. After addressing students at the assembly, he presented a Community Kindness Award to Gr. 8 student Elias (pictured above, right), who collected an astounding 131 individual items for the campaign, and helped earn his class a pizza lunch.

“Our students proved that kindness is not just a lesson we teach. It is something they live. Watching them come together for our underhoused relatives shows the power of compassion in action. Every item collected is a reminder that even small acts can make a meaningful difference in someone's life," says Vice Principal Gould.

Mittens, scarves, socks, and toques have been delivered to the underhoused over the last several weeks and just as temperatures dropped.

Congratulations to all the schools that collected items for the Socktober campaign!