Operation Undies 2011--The History--The Collection

Note: The next five posts are dedicated to Operation Undies 2011. If you want to read ALL of it, or just see photos of the delivery, you may need to scroll down and hit "older posts" to see the full montage. Sorry, there is just so much to say about all of this. So, without further delay. . .

Operation Undies exploded this year, but in a good way. What began as a simple collection of items with an emphasis on socks and underwear has transformed into a massive charity drive which involved hundreds, maybe even a thousand people.

Operation Undies benefits my sweet migrant friends at the Centro de la Familia Headstart in Providence Utah. I found this organization in 2009 when my friend from years past, who is a teacher there, sent out a mass e-mail to all her friends and family asking for some help with a few families with some especially dire needs.

I happily organized my family including my siblings to meet the needs of a singular family at Christmas. Collecting items gave me a wonderfully addictive feeling. After dropping our items off to my friend I learned more about the school and the desperate needs all the students at the school had.

I planned better the next year and brought my ward in by collecting used clothing from my ward members. I also responded when the owner of the dance studio where my children take lessons asked if anyone knew of a Christmas service project the studio could support. The dancers and their families donated more than 100 toys for the kids. In addition I pestered my facebook and regular friends and collected 140 packs of new socks and underwear in less than a week’s time.

The turn-out from these collections was amazing. I was elated as I filled my mini-van entirely up. I felt great all December long as I collected and thought about the families that would benefit from the collection. I felt especially great about the socks and underwear we were providing to kids who only had a pair or two of underwear. In many cases their underthings were threadbare, full of holes or were way too large.

We dropped off the load. The teachers at the school were stunned with our load. They were not expecting it and didn’t really even seem to know we were coming. I’m sure I heard one of them say… “Now, who are you?” “Now, what is all this stuff?”

I was like… “What? You don’t know me? Well, you better get to know me because I’ll be here every year, and next year I’m coming in a moving van.”

They were like… “Okay crazy, see you never.” And then Operation Undies was born.

The Collection

This year wanting to fulfill, my prediction that I would indeed come in a moving van, I began to think of this drive early. In August, I planned when I would start making phone calls, which was September.

In September I made my first call to the school. “Hello, I am Kristin Sokol the crazy lady who brought dozens of bags of clothes and socks and underwear last year…Yeah, that’s me. What are your biggest needs this year?”

They told me that in the past they’ve had an organization generously donate new coats to every child in the center. This year the group was not planning to fill this need. So, they needed about 100. I was a little overwhelmed at the idea of coming up with 100 new coats. In fact, I told them that I was sure I could NOT come up with 100 new coats. I thought I might be able to scrape together 50 used coats. They assured me that they would be very satisfied with whatever I brought and that whatever it was would be well needed and used.

I was on my phone in the car during this conversation. After I hung up, I sat there for a minute and thought…there must be a way. I assured myself that I COULD do this. Then, Tiffany Dance Company popped into my head since that’s where I was driving to pick up my daughter from her dance lesson. Once I arrived, I asked Tiffany if she would be willing to do coats. New coats. She said sure without batting an eye and only asked how many. I told her up to 100. She took a breath but said she’d try and thought she could get close.

A few minutes after I left there a friend of mine called. Her daughters are serious competitive dancers at another studio, Elite. In passing I asked if their dance studio did a Christmas service project to which she responded yes.

I told her about the need for new coats. She said she’d mention it to her dance people next time she was in there. To my surprise, she called me only an hour or so later with a big fat YES. I was stunned.

This task, which completely overwhelmed me had been single handedly completed within only a few hours. That’s when I really started to see the potential this project had.

It’s a worthy and needy organization that helps hardworking people and sweet children. Who wouldn’t want to help these people? Answer, no one.