The Nassau County Firefighter’s Museum held their annual Badge of Courage Celebration. During that gala, the Museum bestowed their Firefighters Humanitarian Award on John and Mark X. Cronin, the co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks.

Hempstead Councilman Anthony P. D’Esposito, a board member of the Museum and volunteer for the Island Park Fire Department, served as master of ceremonies. In introducing John and Mark, he defined a humanitarian as someone “who strives to improve the human condition.” He cited the work that John and Mark have done for people with differing abilities and their donations of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to support organizations that assist and promote people with differing abilities.

In accepting the award, John Cronin said, “We are honored and humbled to receive this award.” 

Mark X. Cronin said, “Mother Teresa is a humanitarian; we are just a couple of knuckleheads from Long Island selling socks.”  The father and son then hugged each other.

John and Mark announced to the audience that they will produce a firefighter tribute sock and a portion of the proceeds of that sock will go to the Firefighter’s Museum.  That commitment was met with rousing  applause and cheers. 

During the ceremony, the Museum honored Erin Coulton of News 12 with the Keith Lane Memorial Excellence in Journalism Award. And the museum added firefighters Allen Walther and Michael Ornaeur to the Museum’s Hall of Fame.  

 About John’s Crazy Socks

John’s Crazy Socks is a father-son venture inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks, or what he calls his “crazy socks.” We're on a mission to spread happiness.

John’s Crazy Socks is a social enterprise with both a social mission and a business mission.  The company is built on four pillars: 

• Inspiration and Hope: Showing what is possible when you give a person a chance. We hire people with differing abilities, share videos to show what people can do, host school tours and school groups that come for work experience. We want the world to see what people with differing abilities can do. John’s Crazy Socks currently has 24 employees, 18 of whom have a differing ability. 

• Giving Back: We donate 5 percent of our earnings to the Special Olympics and raise money through our Sock of the Month Club and charity and awareness socks for our charity partners like Autism Speaks, the Autism Society of America, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Williams Syndrome Association. We have raised over $300,000 for our charity partners and publish a monthly Giving Back Report. 

• Socks You Can Love: We have over 2,300 different socks plus a Sock of the Month Club, gift boxes and gift bags. And we match the great socks with great service: we do same day shipping so most of our customers receive their socks within two days of ordering. 

• Making It Personal: Every package gets a thank you note from John and some candy.

Please see our website for more information about our openings. For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, please visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or email us at service@johnscrazysocks.com. 

About the Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center

The Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center provides a unique setting for the preservation and interpretation of our local volunteer fire services heritage via the collection, restoration, and exhibition of historic and contemporary firematic memorabilia and equipment. The visitor experience at the Center increases public appreciation and awareness of the fire services in Nassau County and stimulates volunteer recruitment in local departments.

A major goal of the Center is to educate and inform the public about fire safety and prevention and to display the proud history of volunteer firefighting in Nassau County. The Museum and Education center opened to the general public on Sunday, June 4, 2006, as the newest part of Museum Row.