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The office crew at DeFeet International pose with a sock the company designed to benefit a Ukrainian orphanage.
"#loveforukraine" spreads across the foot of the sock, with a heart with the Ukrainian flag's colors on the ankle. The rest of the sock features the blue and yellow of the flag flipped to signal the country is in distress.
HILDEBRAN — A local company put their best foot forward this week when they rolled out a new sock designed to help a Ukrainian orphanage.
DeFeet International, a sock manufacturer based in Hildebran, rolled out the design to help a Ukrainian orphanage to which they have a personal connection, said Rob Dickerson, vice president of sales for the company.
“We have a friend who adopted a son from the Ukraine three years ago,” Dickerson said. “They were telling us about the kids, there’s 53 kids, and they’re all huddled in a bomb shelter trying to stay safe during all this.”
Dickerson said the family was able to wire some money to one of the people taking care of the kids in the orphanage before the war amped up, and they’ve been able to stay in contact.
He said it was a collaboration between the owners, Shane and Hope Cooper, their son, Morgan, and the rest of the company’s staff to create the sock.
The socks, priced at $14.99 per pair, take a cue from flag code by displaying the Ukrainian flag’s colors in reverse to show the country is in distress. The ankles have a heart detail, with the top half of the heart filled in blue and the bottom half filled in yellow to mimic the Ukrainian flag. The foot of the sock is adorned with “#loveforukraine.”
“This is not about politics, but about the people and humanity,” Dickerson said.
The company hopes to donate proceeds from sock sales to the orphanage, but if that’s not possible, Dickerson said the money raised will be donated to the International Rescue Committee.
“It kind of blew up though,” Dickerson said. “We only made 60 pairs, thinking we’d sell some to our friends who knew about it, and then it exploded.”
By Friday morning around 10 a.m., 557 pairs of socks had been sold. Dickerson said they’ll be making the socks on three of the manufacturing company’s machines when factory workers return next week to stay caught up on demand.
“It just makes your heart big,” Dickerson said. “You’re happy that people recognize this is horrible, what’s happened to them. We want peace for these people, and of all people, you’ve got children who don’t have a home, per say. They already lived in adversity in a country with little assistance, and here they are, they’re thrust into a war-torn situation.”
The yarn used to make the socks is made out of recycled plastic, Dickerson said, and the company is no stranger to fundraisers. DeFeet designed a fundraiser sock to help after the Australian bush fires broke out in early 2020.
Anyone interested in purchasing a pair of socks to help the Ukrainian orphanage can visit www.defeet.com. To learn more about the IRC, visit rescue.org.
Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter.
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Chrissy Murphy has been covering crime, breaking news and city government for The News Herald since May 2018.
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The office crew at DeFeet International pose with a sock the company designed to benefit a Ukrainian orphanage.
"#loveforukraine" spreads across the foot of the sock, with a heart with the Ukrainian flag's colors on the ankle. The rest of the sock features the blue and yellow of the flag flipped to signal the country is in distress.
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