THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512080165
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Brenda McCormick of Mothers Inc. wants you to hang onto your socks.
She doesn't need any more.
What she really hopes to find on her doorstep are at least 2,000 new toys to be distributed to needy children this Christmas.
If they pile up as well as the socks have, the advocate for the homeless should have no problem with her wish list.
The socks appeal started with a Salem High School student who recently approached McCormick wanting to do ``something'' for the needy. The wish was heartfelt, but as McCormick thought of all the dos and don'ts that have to be considered for such efforts to be effective (no mayonnaise on sandwiches, escorts to take volunteers into areas where the homeless are found), she wished for a simple project that could make a difference.
Her thoughts turned to socks.
``For the homeless,'' explains McCormick, ``their feet are their most important asset. If they're not sleeping, they're walking on them. They need to keep them warm; I've seen gangrenous feet and they're not a pretty sight. I told the girl, `If you don't mind being known as the socks girl and having everyone say, `Here comes that socks girl again' every time you walk up, you can do it, collect pairs of clean but used socks.''
The girl took up the challenge and the idea took off. As McCormick says, everybody has a pair to give, you can carry them in a notebook, and they're not heavy.
Other schools picked up the idea, then the newspaper mentioned the drive and McCormick's phone began ringing non-stop.
As McCormick's organization has done countless times since 1985, a need was identified, a plan mapped out, and the goal was met. She has a way of making it seem so easy.
But it's not. Like those toys. That idea goes back to 1985, too.
``That year, when I began handing out food, I noticed a lot of families didn't have Christmas trees; no lights, no presents,'' she said. ``At first, I thought it was because of their religion; maybe they didn't celebrate Christmas. Then I asked some of them and they told me it was because they didn't have anything.
``I thought about my own kids' few gifts under the tree; I couldn't give them those. I didn't have any way to buy more. But I knew as my kids opened their presents there were kids who wouldn't have anything. I sat down and cried.
``I found out all the other programs had closed out two weeks before. For some of them that provide toys to needy families, you have to register by October. I promised I would never assume somebody else is doing it. To one lady whom I'd just given a chicken, I said, `Here, have another chicken.' I didn't have anything else to give her.''
That first year, McCormick and Mothers Inc. raised 700 toys. Eventually it got to 2,000 toys and the name stuck - ``2,000 Toys'' - even though last year, thanks to Lillian Vernon, whom McCormick describes as her principal benefactor, she reached more than 5,000 kids.
``We get last-minute emergencies: burned out, lost their job, lost their layaway,'' says McCormick. ``United Way sends us all those calls during the last 10 days. They know we'll do something; we won't turn anyone away.''
McCormick's organization typically directs its efforts toward poor women and children in eight neighborhoods in Virginia Beach. Most, she says, are minimum wage, seasonal employees tied primarily to the tourist industry. But her organization also aids men, street people, the homeless. No one in need, she vows, is turned away.
In the days before Christmas her reach grows to include six cities: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Hampton.
Like most things, McCormick keeps the toy drive simple. She doesn't want to complicate it with toys that have to be age appropriate, or have to be ``matched'' to a child. She's looking for only two things: teddy bears and basketballs. Each has universal appeal for around $12 each.
``Real simple,'' she says. ``Real affordable.''
But 2,000 or more? McCormick is a woman of faith. What she can't go out and make happen, she believes will happen. And it usually does. MEMO: Brenda McCormick of Mothers Inc. can be reached at 491-2887. Her mailing
address is: 417 16th St., Virginia Beach, Va. 23451.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff file photo
Brenda McCormick's organization also typically directs its toy
donation efforts toward poor women and children in eight Beach
neighborhoods.
by CNB