Sarah Lewis hands out donations at Street Help Homeless Centre on December 19, 2018 (Photo by Allanah Wills)Sarah Lewis hands out donations at Street Help Homeless Centre on December 19, 2018 (Photo by Allanah Wills)
Windsor

Windsor woman donates 400 pairs of socks

Being overseas can't stop one Windsor philanthropist from donating to her hometown.

For the past 11 years, 18-year-old Sarah Lewis has run the 'Socks From Your Heart' campaign. The campaign donates socks, money, and food to the Street Help Homeless Centre in Windsor.

Lewis started the campaign when she was in Grade 2 after volunteering at the centre with her family. In the first year of her campaignm she collected 39 pairs of socks to donate. Since then, she has collected over 27,000 pairs of socks and $100,000 for Street Help.

This year, Lewis thought she might have to put her campaign on hold as she went to post-secondary school in England. But, she said the generosity of Windsor-Essex residents allowed her vision to continue.

"I wasn't really expecting it since I was going away for university, but the tremendous support from the community has been overwhelming. People are still giving donations. We've got different companies, individuals and families making up backpacks to donate instead of doing gift exchanges," Lewis said.

On December 19, while back home for Christmas break, Lewis was able to make time to stop by Street Help and hand out backpacks, toiletries, and over 400 pairs of socks. She also dropped off a cheque for $8,000 and 15 hams for Christmas dinner.

According to Lewis, people who were familiar with her campaign reached out to her while she was at university inquiring about how they could continue to make donations in the name of her cause.

"There were people calling me up, contacting me via email, people coming into Street Help specifically making a donation for my campaign," said Lewis. "It's just so nice to see that Windsor is truly just a very generous community. Even though I'm away the tradition has still been carrying on."

Lewis has brought the generosity of Windsor to her new home in England. She has already started a student committee at her university collecting donations for the people in need there.

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