Giving Back Report for May 2021 

In May 2021, we raised $4,038.81 for our charity partners. Through May 2021, we have now raised more than $430,854 for our charity partners. Giving Back is an essential part of our mission and we are excited by our ability to support others. We continue to learn that the more we can give, the happier we are. 

Our Giving Pack Program 

A core aspect of our mission at John’s Crazy Socks is to demonstrate the capabilities and contributions of people with differing abilities. Our Giving Back Program helps us to achieve this mission. By donating to charities like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Autism Society of America, we enable them to do more work on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities. 

John Cronin, the co-founder and inspiration behind John’s Crazy Socks, initiated the Giving Back Program by committing to donate five percent of our earnings to the Special Olympics even before we opened for business. John is a Special Olympics athlete and knows first-hand the difference the Special Olympics can make in the lives of all involved. 

Since opening, we have added a growing list of Awareness Socks and Charity Socks that raise money for our charity partners. These include our Down Syndrome Awareness Socks, which John designed, and our Autism Awareness Socks. John loves to hand deliver the donations and our staff celebrates when we announce our Giving Back totals for the month.   

Event: Speaking Engagements 

May was a great month for speaking engagements.  Although all the speaking events that John and Mark did in May were still virtual, companies and organizations are already booking for in-person speaking events starting in the Fall 2021!  But, in May, John & Mark were the keynote speakers at 3 significant events – the graduation ceremony for the Vanderbilt University Next Steps Program on May 4, the SHRM-LI [The Society for Human Resource Management – Long Island Chapter] Annual Conference on May 21, and the Unique Source Annual Conference on May 11.  Many groups find that a speech by John and Mark is not only informative and entertaining but also inspiring. 

Event: Visiting Highland Chocolates in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania 

On May 29, John and Mark, along with one of their John’s Crazy Socks colleagues, Andrew Oh, visited the shop of Highland Chocolates in Wellsboro, PA.  This delightful and delicious shop carries all sorts of candy treats made by individuals with special needs in Tioga County, PA.  The store is staffed by persons with differing abilities too.  Highland Chocolates factory and store are operated by Partners in Progress, a social service agency in Mansfield PA that provides job skills training and opportunities for teens and adults with special needs.  John and Mark were spending time with family and friends nearby during the Memorial Day weekend and were happy to make a visit to see this amazing operation and meet Irene Morgan, the director of the program who makes it all happen.  Thanks Irene! 

Giving Back – May 2021 

This report covers sales and activities from May 1 through May 31, 2021. 

Giving Back to the Special Olympics 

We pledge 5 percent of our annual earnings to the Special Olympics. We also donate 5 percent of the sales from our Sock of the Month Club to the Special Olympics. In addition, each sale of Shark Socks, Polar Plunge Socks, and Spreading Happiness Socks results in a donation to the Special Olympics.  

This month, we raised $534.97 for the Special Olympics. 

Donations to Charity Partners

This table shows how much money we generated for each of our charitable partners. 

Donation of Charity Boxes 

Every month, we receive many requests for donations of socks and/or boxes of socks that can be used at charity auctions or events to raise money for a multitude of organizations that are doing admirable work on behalf of non-profit groups.  In some months, we have received more than 1,000 requests for sock donations. 

There are many great causes – people working to protect the environment, to advance the arts, to lift people out of poverty, to advance peace – and we want to support many, many causes. Nonetheless, we realize that we can have a better impact focusing on issues concerning people with differing abilities since that resonates best with our overall mission. We do our best to fill as many requests as possible, but we cannot fill every request for even those organizations that are fully aligned with our mission. 

In the past month, we donated 18 boxes to be used at fundraising events associated with the following charitable organizations: 

In addition, we donated Autism Awareness socks to a grassroots group in Connecticut that is attempting to start a local family support group. 

Other Donations 

In addition to our monthly charitable donations, donation boxes and sock donations, in May 2021, we donated to National Down Syndrome Association. 

Summary 

In summary, we made the following donation in May 2021: 

1. Monthly Donations to Charity Partners      $ 1,903.05
2. Charity Boxes                                                   $ 1,800.00
3. Other Donations                                              $    335.76

 Total                                                                           $ 4,038.81

Our Charity and Awareness Socks 

Charity and Awareness Socks are a large part of our Giving Back Program. The sale of each Charity and Awareness sock results in a donation to a specific charity. 

The following lists our Charity and Awareness Socks as well as the related charity partner. 

Nothing makes us happier than giving back to charity. We work together with our charity partners to help raise awareness for their causes. Then we report on this activity for our customers. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you. 

If you have questions or would like to comment on this report, please contact Mark X. Cronin at mxcronin@JohnsCrazySocks.com.