“Every Sole Deserves a Sock” Drive to Benefit Salvation Army of Brookings

  • January 30, 2023
Brookings Health System’s Wound Center is encouraging the community to donate socks this February during the “Every Sole Deserves a Sock” drive. Showing off their colorful socks in encouragement are the wound center’s team. Pictured from left: Wound Care Nurse Jaclyn Nielsen, RN; Program Director Reghan Boldt, MOT, OTR-L, CLT; Wound Care Nurse Erica Sanderson, RN; Podiatrist Dr. Nephi Jones, DPM; Health Unit Coordinator Amber Norton; and Nurse Practitioner Katie Jones, CNP. New pairs of socks can be dropped off at Brookings Health System’s main campus. Donations will be given to The Salvation Army of Brookings.
Brookings Health System’s Wound Center is encouraging the community to donate socks this February during the “Every Sole Deserves a Sock” drive. Showing off their colorful socks in encouragement are the wound center’s team. Pictured from left: Wound Care Nurse Jaclyn Nielsen, RN; Program Director Reghan Boldt, MOT, OTR-L, CLT; Wound Care Nurse Erica Sanderson, RN; Podiatrist Dr. Nephi Jones, DPM; Health Unit Coordinator Amber Norton; and Nurse Practitioner Katie Jones, CNP. New pairs of socks can be dropped off at Brookings Health System’s main campus. Donations will be given to The Salvation Army of Brookings.

Brookings Health System’s Wound Center asks the community to participate in the “Every Sole Deserves a Sock” drive this February. All new pairs of socks donated during the drive will be given to The Salvation Army of Brookings to help struggling individuals and families in Brookings County.

“Socks are one of the most requested items in the winter for those less fortunate,” said Katie Jones, CNP, one of the medical providers at Brookings Health System’s Wound Center. “In colder months, it’s very important to protect our skin by adding warm layers. For our feet, that means wearing socks. Our feet and lower legs are at the greatest risk of developing a chronic wound. Socks can help prevent wounds from ever starting.”

Numerous health problems can result from not having or wearing socks, including:

  • Friction – Bony parts of the foot can become irritated if socks are not worn. This leads to thickened skin which results in painful calluses and corns.
  • Frostbite – Socks provide warmth and help minimize the constriction of blood vessels. Constricted blood vessels make toes susceptible to damage by the cold. Severe frostbite can result in amputation.
  • Neuropathy – People with neuropathy have nerve damage and are at a greater risk for developing foot ulcers. When nerve function is lost, it makes it harder to feel thickened skin or irritations. If skin breaks down, a non-healing wound called an ulcer can form. Ulcers can become infected, and can even infect bone, which can result in amputation. Patients affected by neuropathy include those with diabetes, alcohol abuse problems and those on certain medications.

Community members wishing to participate in the sock drive can drop off new pairs of socks at Brookings Health System’s main campus entrance at 300 Twenty-Second Avenue in Brookings.

Brookings Health System’s Wound Center offers comprehensive wound healing. The wound center treats individuals with wounds caused by medical treatments, disease or injuries. It also offers hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy to help patients with difficult to heal wounds. Wound care experts are dedicated to healing wounds, preventing lower limb loss and optimizing outcomes for patients. For more information on wound care, please visit brookingshealth.org/WoundCare.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.