Knock Knock Give a Sock holds regular “Meet Your Neighbors Dinners” bringing donors and homeless residents together and John and Mark X. Cronin, the father and son team that co-founded John’s Crazy Socks, were the featured speakers at their most recent dinner. The dinner was held on the Lower Est Side of Manhattan.
Adina Lichtman, founder of Knock Knock Give a Sock said, “We could not think of a better pair of speakers. They were so inspirational, so moving. John and Mark brought such a message of hope to our dinner.”
Knock Knock Give a Sock
Adina Lichtman started the organization while still a student at New York University. She collected socks to provide to people at homeless shelters because socks are the most requested clothing item. This gave rise to an organization that helps companies and organizations run sock drives. But they do much more. Adina explained, “We aim to humanize homelessness one sock at a time by turning transactions into interactions.” Thus, they organize meals where donors sit down and break bread and have conversations with residents of the shelters.
“We love what they do,” said Mark X. Cronin, “It is one thing to write a check or drop off a donation, it moves to another level when we actually meet the recipients of our donations and get to know them as people. Their approach is in keeping with our approach at John’s Crazy Socks, we are interested in building relationships, not simply chasing financial transactions.”
Speaking at the Knock Knock Give a Sock Dinner
The Cronins told of how John, a young man with Down syndrome, and his father, bootstrapped John’s idea to sell crazy socks into the world’s largest sock store. John spoke of overcoming obstacles and keeping faith even in hard times that they could succeed.
The father and son team had the audience laughing and nodding in agreement and left more than a few audience members in tears. At the end of their talk, John and Mark received a standing ovation.
John’s Crazy Socks Supports Knock Knock Give a Sock
“We love the mission of Knock Knock Give a Sock,” said John Cronin. “We want to support the work they do. I was so happy that we had the opportunity to speak at their dinner.”
John’s Crazy Socks is working with Adina Lichtman to create a sock that people can buy to show their support for the organization and the proceed from each sale will go to Knock Knock Give a Sock. (That would be a Knock Knock Give a Sock Sock.) In addition, John’s Crazy Socks is arranging to make regular donations of socks to the organization. John and Mark look forward to speaking at future Meet Your Neighbor Dinners.
Adina Lichtman said, “We are grateful for the support of John and Mark and the entire team from John’s Crazy Socks. They understand what we are doing and we welcome their support.”
Keynote and Inspirational Speakers
John and Mark X. Cronin are frequent speakers at conferences and corporate events. They share their entrepreneurial story of how a young man with Down syndrome together with his father created what is today the world’s largest sock store with a mission to spread happiness. Their speaking engagements bring laughter, tears and inspire people to see what is possible for each of us to achieve. They have spoken in person at events across Canada, the United States and Mexico and virtually at events around the world. They have spoken at events for Microsoft, EY, Bank of America, the Special Olympics, and the National Down Syndrome Society, among others.
Their advocacy work has seen the Cronins testify twice before Congress and speak at the United Nations on two occasions. Their work has been featured on many national news shows. They are winners of many awards including the EY Entrepreneurs of the Year. They serve on the CEO Commission for Disability Employment and the Neurodiversity at Work Business Roundtable.
John and Mark recently recorded their second TEDx Talk entitled, “Hiring People with People with Differing Abilities is Not Altruism, It Is Good Business.” That Talk is available on YouTube and the TED platform. Their first TEDx Talk entitled Differently Abled People Want to Help Us is also available on YouTube and the TED platform.
If you would like John and Mark to speak at your event, please visit the speaker’s pages at our website or contact Maria Lerner at MLerner@johnscrazysocks.com.
About Knock Knock Give a Sock
Knock Knock Give A Sock (KKGS) works to humanize the homeless one sock at a time by bringing neighbors living in local homeless shelters and neighbors living in homes together. The organization raises awareness about who the homeless are in addition to providing them fresh socks, a much needed resource in many homeless shelters. KKGS uses a two-step model to achieve their goal. First, they assist a company or a community in hosting a sock drive. After collecting the socks, KKGS offers the organization the opportunity to host a “Meet Your Neighbors Dinner.” These dinner programs foster community engagement effectively turning the transaction of simply donating socks into an interaction that further the aim of breaking stigmas while breaking bread. To learn more or to support Knock Knock Give a Sock, visit their website: https://knockknockgiveasock.org
About John’s Crazy Socks
John’s Crazy Socks was inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” He and his father, Mark X. Cronin, started the company as a social enterprise with a mission of Spreading Happiness™. With more than 4,000 socks, John’s Crazy Socks is now the world’s largest sock store. More than half their employees have a differing ability, and their Giving Back program has raised over $550,000 for charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Autism Society of America. Most of all, they are Spreading Happiness™.
For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account, TikTok or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.
