Can a Pair of New Socks Make a Difference to the Houseless?

On National Make a Difference Day and throughout the year, Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Seattle reach out to nonprofits serving those in need

Warm, dry socks are essential to anyone living on the streets, according to charities serving the homeless, yet those making donations of clothes and food rarely think of socks as a vital commodity. According to one Seattle nonprofit, “For folks living outside, clean socks are an absolute necessity and a very difficult thing to come by.” So Seattle Volunteer Ministers marked “Make a Difference Day” by donating socks to the Queen Anne Helpline, Queen Anne Food Bank at Sacred Heart and the Jean Kim Foundation Hygiene Center.

Seattle's homeless population grew 13.8 percent from 2020 to 2022. This, despite an average 150 rainy days each year and temperatures at or near freezing for much of the winter. At the same time, just about all services and commodities including apartment rentals and home purchases are more expensive on average than in other cities.

For decades, volunteers from the Church of Scientology Seattle have helped address the needs of individuals and families in the community, including those experiencing food insecurity. They volunteer with Food Lifeline. They hold food and clothing drives for the Queen Anne Food Bank and other local nonprofits. At the start of each school year, Scientologists organize a back-to-school backpack giveaway with each backpack filled with school supplies. And the Church has launched its annual holiday drive to collect and distribute warm clothing and other items of need.

Make a Difference Day was created in 1992 to offer community support and encourage volunteerism across the country. It is cosponsored by Points of Light, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging people and resources to solve serious social problems through voluntary service. 

In addition to annual Make a Difference Day activities, the Church of Scientology Seattle engages in community outreach and social betterment activities throughout the year. In fact, many Scientologists consider every day as a day to make a difference, in keeping with their passion to achieve the Aims of Scientology:

“A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where Man is free to rise to greater heights.” 

Throughout the year, volunteers of humanitarian initiatives supported by the Seattle Scientology Church provide effective drug education and prevention through the local chapter of Foundation for a Drug-Free World. The Seattle chapter of Youth for Human Rights International raises awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And the Seattle chapter of The Way to Happiness Foundation promotes common-sense values by distribution of The Way to Happiness, a book written by humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, whose purpose was to use this book to arrest and reverse moral decline in society and restore honesty and understanding to make the world safer and less violent for all.

The Church holds frequent open house programs and conferences to bring the community together to tackle issues affecting the city.

In dedicating the new home of the Church of Scientology Seattle in 2010, Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige described the Church’s humanitarian mission as “a movement that is all-embracive, all-inclusive and all about ensuring no one falls between the cracks.”

To learn more, visit the Public Information Center of the Church of Scientology Seattle at 300 West Harrison Street Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sat. and Sun. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.;  visit the nearest Church of Scientology; or watch programming on the Scientology Network, available on DIRECTV Channel 320, DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T U-verse and streaming at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.