What started as an in-house Christmas campaign to gather socks for area homeless people turned into a monthlong competition between county 911 centers. Although the directors have been clear there are no winners or losers, Limestone County does have bragging rights for the center that raised the most.

“Brandon (Wallace, director of Limestone County 911) way outdid us,” said Kelly Armor, deputy director of Morgan County 911.

Armor said Morgan County 911 does a Christmas project each year, and during a discussion over which project to do this year, someone mentioned the least donated item to shelters is socks.

“I was on the phone with Brandon about another issue, and we decided to challenge each other,” Armor said.

Wallace shared the competition with other centers to get them involved. Each center was given the month of November to collect as many new pairs of socks as possible. At the end of the month, the center could give whatever was gathered to organizations that work with homeless and underprivileged citizens in the center’s county.

Wallace said donations poured in from all over Limestone.

“There have been several people who just walked up to the door (of the 911 center) and said, ‘Here,'” he said.

Wallace said both of his children’s classes at Elkmont and the school itself collected socks.

“I shared it on social media and one of the ladies from Bobby Terry Company messaged me and said, ‘I got a bunch of socks for you,’ and it was like, 100 pairs.”

By Monday, the center had 1,274 pairs of socks collected. Morgan County collected 130 pairs. Other competitors included Walker County 911 and Tuscaloosa County 911, who brought in 125 and 87 pairs respectively.

“It’s been cool seeing all the folks help and all the employees help,” Wallace said. “Maybe it’ll be bigger next year. We can always do gloves, coats, something different every year.”

Armor said she’s down to compete next year, too.

“The good thing is, there are no losers,” Armor said, adding Morgan County’s socks would be going to the Salvation Army in Decatur.

Hearts for the Homeless

Wallace told The News Courier he intends to donate at least some of the socks gathered by Limestone County 911 at an upcoming Hearts for the Homeless event.

“I’m gonna get some of the men’s and women’s socks and take it to give to them on Saturday, along with canned food and propane from us here at 911,” he said.

Hearts for Homeless is a local organization that works with the homeless populations of Athens, Limestone County, Madison and Huntsville. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the organization will host a “Fill The Trailer” event at the Big Lots Shopping Center on U.S. 72 in Athens, aiming to fill a trailer with canned food and propane for area homeless.

Wallace said he’s also considered Limestone County Churches Involved, local adoptive organizations, Limestone County Department of Human Resources and even local senior centers as possible destinations for the socks they’ve collected.