We have a responsibility for our brothers on the street, and service to others is where we find happiness. ~ Mayor Kenney
December 21 2016 Philadelphia PA — Across the street from City Hall, all lit up in Christmas splendor, a vigil was held on the first night of winter to remember the 200 homeless lives lost this year. We 
held candles and signs with names of those who lost their lives on the streets. My sign honored Gary Southrey.
All of the names were read and we bowed our heads in silence. Head Angel Sister Mary was there, and we watched as the former and current homeless lined up to hug and thank her. Mayor Kenney spoke, said he was committed to the cause. We ended the night singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
Maybe in time a Homeless Memorial Day won’t be needed.
This is our Philadelphia.
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.
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.”
