Hannah's Socks • warm feet, warm hearts

When the phone rings you just never know who's on the other end. Recently it was the assistant to former U.S. Senator from New Jersey, Bill Bradley!

His kind assistant spoke to me and Hannah about Hannah's Story and the Hannah's Socks mission. Mr. Bradley has a Sirius satellite radio program called "American Voices" where as the host he showcases interviews and features about people's stories from all across America.

Last Tuesday was the big day when Mr. Bradley phoned to interview the two of us. I think it went well! Hannah answered his questions and once in a while would throw in her own musings like, "When I grow up I'm going to be president of Hannah's Socks." Mr. Bradley misheard her and thought Hannah said she wanted to give socks to the President! We all had a good laugh.

The interview will air on Mr. Bradley's show in May; it will also be available online for listening after it airs, so we'll be sure to link to it and share with everyone! You can learn about "American Voices" on his website.

Karen Wilhelm, a 4th grade teacher who lives on the island of Put-In-Bay in Ohio, contacted Hannah's Socks to let us know that her students were collecting socks for Hannah.

Karen said the kids had a goal of collecting 200 pairs. I thought that was incredible for a small school. Then she recently reported that the students were excited because they had surpassed their goal and collected a total of 225 pairs!

Hannah and I are going to meet Karen and the students next week. I think that I am just as excited to meet them as Hannah is. Kudos to this group of great kids!

I love surprises! Elie Levy, President & CEO of Planet Sox, read about Hannah's Socks in People magazine. He phoned to say that he wanted to donate socks.

I was thrilled because socks are needed every day of the year, and sometimes I have dreams that we run out. So today a UPS freight truck pulls up with a delivery. Little did I know just how generous Mr. Levy's donation would be.

There were so many boxes — totaling 1,400 pairs of the cutest socks for kids. What a wonderful surprise!

Hannah calls them "fun socks." They include Hannah Montana, Snoopy, Bobby Jack the monkey and more. You name it they've got it!

Because of the generosity of Mr. Levy, Hannah's Socks will make a whole bunch of kids smile and feel good! We'll feed these socks into our programs that help homeless and underprivileged children.

Thank you Mr. Levy and Planet Sox. Please check out their website at www.planetsox.com.

Just of few helpful Hannah's Socks volunteers

My favorite part of Hannah's Socks is Saturday mornings when we hand out socks at the Downtown Toledo Library. That face-to-face connection with the homeless is so important. It feels so good to see a smile from those we serve.

Trust is a big issue. When you gain that trust, you begin to see a transformation in the person week after week. They share their feelings, their joys and their sorrows.

I did a lot of listening this past Saturday. I had a lot of volunteers also start to make connections like those I've been making. They "got it," and that was important to me. Read more »

What a beautiful morning it was Saturday! There is nothing like a dose of sunshine to brighten people's outlook.

At our usual hour of volunteering at the Downtown Toledo Library, it was packed with those in need looking for some help. We had two tables, one for socks and the other for Ts and underwear.

I also had extra help. Jamie from the Toledo Claims Association, her son and some friends of hers joined us. They didn't hesitate and dove right in and began passing out all of the much-needed gear. Read more »

It's like Christmas morning when the postman rings our door bell. Each box addressed to Hannah's Socks gets all of us excited. It's hard for me to put the box aside until Hannah gets home from school. I always want to take one little peek.

Recently a box arrived from second grade students at Woodbridge Primary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. There were socks for men, women and kids. Read more »

Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner welcomed my daughter, Hannah, as well as our family and friends to his office on the 22nd floor of One Government Center last week!

Mayor Finkbeiner had read about Hannah in People magazine, and during our visit he made an official Proclamation naming Hannah Turner as Toledo's "Citizen of the Month."

Hannah was excited to meet the mayor, who was a kind and gracious host. He went around the room and spoke to everyone in attendance, asking lots of questions. I could tell he genuinely wanted to get to know all of his visitors. Read more »

What a great week it has been!

The Masai Corporation in Hailey, Idaho, contacted the Hannah's Socks office after reading about Hannah in People magazine. They were so inspired, they wanted to donate socks to help the less fortunate in Ohio.

As promised, more than 5,000 pairs of socks arrived this week! Hannah was excited because she knows that a lot of families and kids will benefit from these socks. Read more »

My Saturday mornings are spent at the Downtown Toledo Library handing out socks, underwear, gloves, hats, and scarves to people who've fallen on hard times. I find that if I miss a Saturday, I miss the people we serve.

I've gotten to know many of the families, and I care about them. Hannah and I will sometimes spend almost our entire time at the library just visiting and sharing news.

Two of my volunteers have attended often enough that they, too, have made a few buddies. Then last week, a new volunteer called me to see if she could help. Read more »

Hannah was treated to a very special evening earlier this week. Perrysburg, Ohio Mayor Nelson Evans invited her to a council meeting where he handed down a proclamation to Hannah and gave her some gifts. Read more »