Scott Lapine, left, a senior at Marquette Alternative High School, and Nate Johnson, an MAHS junior, carry socks collected during the “Rock the Socks!” campaign to a bus that would take students to various spots on Monday. The community donated socks in the annual campaign, sponsored by MAHS, to help people in need. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — If there’s any season when people need socks, it’s winter, and with today being the first day of winter, what more appropriate time of year to distribute socks?

Students from Marquette Alternative High School on Monday loaded up boxes of socks to be distributed to area locations as part of the annual “Rock the Socks!” campaign. MAHS sponsors the annual event.

Socks, which were donated by the community, are placed at various drop-off sites in the area, after which they are collected and distributed.

Cynthia DePetro, who teaches English, publishing and photography at MAHS, again spearheaded the campaign, noting she was pleased with this year’s efforts.

The preliminary count of pairs of socks collected during the campaign was 5,781, an all-time high, she said.

“Everyone’s so tired of COVID and tired of all the sadness and the loss that we’ve had, and I think people want to have some way to give back to the community and make a difference,” DePetro said. “People need socks.”

She acknowledged the good response, though, isn’t new.

“We always have such a great response, so I think this town is always incredibly giving, but I think what I’m seeing this year is just hearts even more open to doing something,” she said.

Sites where the socks were to be delivered were the Janzen House, St. Vincent de Paul, the Women’s Center, Room at the Inn and the Beacon House, all located in Marquette, as well as local elementary schools.

Socks were dropped off at MAHS; Marquette Senior High School; the Marquette Area Public Schools Center Office; Sandy Knoll, Superior Hills and Graveraet elementary schools, Marquette; Cherry Creek Elementary School, Harvey; Bothwell Middle School, Marquette; Ishpeming Middle/High School; St. Louis the King Catholic Church, Harvey; Wattsson & Wattsson Jewelers, Marquette; Embers Credit Union, Marquette; Mister McGregor’s Garden, Marquette; Salon, Salon, Marquette; Alluma Yoga, Marquette; Unity Yoga, Marquette; and Smarty’s Saloon, Negaunee.

The Dec. 3 “Toss the Socks” event held during a Northern Michigan University hockey game also was a big success, DePetro said, with about 1,700 pairs collected.

“That was a significant contribution,” said DePetro, who thanked the NMU hockey program and Bridget Kyle, associate athletic director-sports administration/senior woman administrator, for their efforts.

DePetro had special praise for MAPS.

“They get behind us,” she said. “Every single facet of our district got involved.”

Nate Johnson, a junior at MAHS, helped load the socks onto the bus on Monday. He called the “Rock the Socks!” event “cool” because it involved “just giving back to the people who most need it.”