For a decade, Tommy Glinski has been working with Vernon’s Cornerstone to collect socks, undergarments and other items for the community of needy and homeless people Cornerstone services.
His older sister had participated in a program called caps for comfort to help people with cancer.
“I wanted to do something like that, something to give back to the community,” Tommy said. As he brainstormed and searched for ideas, he learned about Socktober from a Youtuber known as “Kid President.”
“I thought it was a great idea,” Tommy said. He ran the idea by his mother, and went from there.
Tommy began his effort in third grade at Northeast School and collected 220 pairs of socks.
The next year it expanded to Center Road School. Eventually, the collection effort spread to all Vernon Public Schools and other locations, such as the Vernon Police Department, Vernon Town Hall and LuAnn’s Bakery & Café in Ellington.
So far, 13,354 pairs of socks along with undergarments and personal items have been donated and given to Cornerstone and Hartford Police Officer Jim Barrett, who works with the capitol city’s homeless population.
Vernon Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph P. Macary said Tommy’s efforts are something special.
“Tommy’s drive and determination towards helping the homeless is both infectious and admirable,” Dr. Macary said. “He focused on the most critical needs and brought the town and schools together towards helping people in the last 10 years – starting when he was in third grade. I have witnessed first-hand his compassion towards helping the less-fortunate. Tommy is a role model for our students.”
Soctober 2024 was the best so far with 4,310 pairs of socks collected, due largely to the addition of South Windsor’s Eli Terry Elementary School to the campaign. Eli Terry made the largest donation and helped the Socktober smash its previous record.
Tommy said he is hoping Vernon steps up and donates even more items to serve the region’s homeless people. Rockville High School Jason Magao, who has a well-known competitive streak, shares Tommy’s desire that Vernon students and the community embrace Soctober.
“Tommy is an outstanding citizen of Vernon and truly exemplifies the best qualities of our student body,” Magao said. “I was speaking to Tommy about Socktober and he let me know that the largest donor of socks last year was a school in South Windsor. I told the school community I would like that to not be the case this year and that we all need to support Tommy and bring home the win for Rockville!”
The late Bryan Flint of Cornerstone worked closely with Tommy on Soctober and explained how it serves people who are homeless. Cornerstone and other organizations that operate clothing banks usually have pants, shirts and jackets for people. Socks and undergarments, however, are not something people typically want to get second hand. That’s why being able to offer new socks and undergarments is important.
Tommy said he learned that lesson from Flint, who remains an inspiration to him. “In the beginning I prioritized socks, but then I realized the community needs more than just socks,” he said. “We began collecting undergarments and essentials such as toothpaste and toothbrushes.”
Flint’s death in a crash in May 2023 hit Tommy hard and he wondered whether he could keep Socktober going without Flint’s help and inspiration. He decided to press on.
“To this day it really, really hurts,” Tommy said of losing Flint. “But I do this for the love of the community and I do this in tribute to Bryan. He said I want to make this statewide and that’s my goal. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to find a way to do it.”
In addition to managing Socktober, Tommy plays on the varsity volleyball team at Rockville High School, is photographer and videographer for Rockville football and other teams, and is one of the school’s representatives to the Vernon Board of Education. He’s also a member of the National Honor Society.
If you would like to donate to Socktober, collection boxes can be found in all Vernon public schools, the Vernon Public Schools central office, Vernon town hall, the Vernon police department, All LuAnn’s locations, Earthlight Technologies in Ellington, North Western Mutual in West Hartford, St. Bernard Church in Rockville and Beyond Dance in Vernon.