Dylan Krawiec collected socks and slippers for seniors in need.
An Egg Harbor City teen took action earlier this month after visiting senior citizens at the Seashore Gardens Living Center in Galloway Township.
Dylan Krawiec
Dylan Krawiec, 15, of Egg Harbor City, whose mother Heather Westenburger is a nurse at the assisted living facility, noticed that many of the residents were in short supply of socks and slippers.
“We noticed people living there had holes in their socks and their slippers were pretty beat up,” Krawiec said.
So for his high school’s community service program, Cedar Creek Gives Back, Krawiec, a freshman, decided to ask people to donate socks and slippers for the residents.
“I started the project at the end of November by setting up a Facebook page, ‘Socks and Slippers for Seniors,’ and asked teachers and classmates to donate. Word spread pretty quickly, and before you know it, we were receiving shipments of items to our house,” he said. “We had socks and slippers coming from friends and family from all over the country. People in California and Arizona were shipping items to us.”
He collected more than 500 pairs of socks and slippers that filled four huge boxes. On Monday, Dec. 30, he will deliver them to the residents at the complex, which provides elder care and Alzheimer’s support for seniors guided by Jewish traditions.
SGLC also held a staff dress down day in exchange for a donation of socks and slippers.
Krawiec said the project was an “extremely worthwhile” endeavor.
“I love helping people out, especially after visiting the center where I saw the need. I decided to make it my goal to make it better for them,” he said. “It was the best thing I could do because many of them don’t have many family members.”
Krawiec said he plans to repeat the sock and slipper drive in 2020.
“Next year, I will start earlier and hopefully collect even more,” he said. “It’s not a big thing, just socks and slippers.”
