Southampton PA January 9 2016  — On a crisp Saturday night in January the New Year was off to a rocking start at The Beatles New Year Party and Benefit for The Joy of Sox, a Philadelphia-area based 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the mission of giving joy to the homeless by giving them new socks.  Guests sang along to Beatles tunes, munched on party fare and danced the night away to the music of area musicians and bands including Barleyjuice, Kyf Brewer, The Karmic Repair Company and The Blue Wave Ramblers.

Shown left to right: Musicians David Haneman, Billy Dominick, Eric McQuone Worthington, Graham Ford and Kyf Brewer

Socks can be more important than food, because food is not hard to get but it seems to be harder to get socks. ~ Kiwi, a homeless person

Tom Costello Jr., CEO of The Joy of Sox explained, “I used to be really homelessphobic, and finally my wife convinced me to join her at a shelter and I handed out socks at the end of the meal.  I would say, ‘Merry Christmas, God Bless You’ and drop a pair of socks into their bag as they left. A lady walked up to me.  She didn’t make eye contact.  I dropped socks into her plastic bag and said, ‘Merry Christmas, God Bless You.’  She said nothing and walked on.  As I was waiting for the next guest she turned to me and said, ‘Can I please have another pair for a friend?’ She looked me right in the eye and said, ‘You know, no one has ever given me a pair of socks before.’ And then she stared to cry.  And I started to cry. She reached out to hug me.  And up to that point I never touched a homeless person before.  So I hugged her back. That was my epiphany moment.  I knew from that moment on that I had to be the sock person.” It was from that epiphany moment that The Joy of Sox came into being.

Nancy Bragin of Philadelphia homeless nonprofit Tuesday Afternoon Philly Outreach hosted the Benefit at her home in Southampton, Bucks County PA.  “The Beatles are the best band in the history of music as far as I’m concerned” she said.  “And I know how important socks are from my outreach work with homeless shelters; they’re the number one requested item.  A night of Beatles music cumulating in the collection of a mountain of new socks for the homeless – well, it doesn’t get better than that.”

A splendid time was had by all.

More information on The Joy of Sox can be found on their website the joyofsox.org. Tuesday Afternoon Philly Outreach website:  tuesdayafternoonphillyoutreach.org.

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