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GREENSBORO - We forget about socks. We lose them in the laundry. We don't mend them - we throw them away. But for hundreds of homeless people throughout Guilford County, a good pair of socks is all important in the cold.

So when a truck full of socks pulled up to the Mary's House women's shelter on Guilford Avenue Thursday morning, it was like Christmas had come early.

"This is such a blessing for people," said Mary's House Director Craig Thomas as she watched the plastic crates and cardboard boxes being unloaded in the driveway. Inside: more than 14,000 pairs of socks for men, women and children.

"They were donated by a local man named Josh Bobbit who is a member of Holy Trinity Church," Thomas said. "He was liquidating a warehouse and he decided to give it all to us."

Volunteers from Mary's House, Malachi House men's shelter and AmeriCorps were on hand to sort the donations. Every major homelessness agency in the county came by to pick up bags and boxes of the socks throughout the day. There were also women's stockings, some children's books and four boxes of Christmas wreaths.

"Most people take those little things for granted," said Marlon Gibbons, a 38-year-old homeless man looking for shelter at Urban Ministries Thursday. "But when it gets this cold outside, when they're talking about snow maybe, you're going to need those socks. You're going to

need two or three pairs. They're worth a million dollars then."

According to the Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County, there were 981 homeless people without shelter as of February 2008. Homeless advocates say those are just the ones who could be counted. The real number is likely much higher.

Thomas said all the socks were new - something they don't see often.

"We're glad to get donations of used clothes, too," she said. "But to see a donation this large and everything is brand new, that's unusual. That's special. And it really means a lot to the people who get them. More than you can know."

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422, Ext. 228, or joe.killian@news-record.com