A social entrepreneur and creative maverick has set a huge goal for his company: raising one million dollars for the Sierra Club, and one million pairs of socks for the homeless with an online sockathon on Saturday.
Diogenes Ruiz’s Sock-athon will launch a quality line of organic and recycled fiber Sierra Club logo socks with a “Buy one, GIVE one Free” policy; for every pair of socks sold, a pair will go to the National Coalition for the Homeless; and 10% of all proceeds will go to the Sierra Club.
Ruiz was a member of inSide919, one of the nationwide inSide AreaCodes micro business networks, based in the Triangle region of North Carolina, a hotbed of enterprise and creativity. Within inSide919, all kinds of activities are gelling; one, the brainchild of network founder Pat Howlett, is the “Let’s Make Stone Soup” aims to share the talents of the community on one project a month.
The Great Sockathon of November 1, 2008, became Stone Soup Project Number one. Meeting over breakfast at Bob Evans, Stone Soup members, a group of ten included Musicians, Videographers, Actors, Writers, Jewelers and a Fireman, brainstormed how to get the attention of America in a month. Videos. Plays. Super Heroes. Songs. Parties. Facebook. MySpace. Care2. Meetups. Blogs.
Ruiz designed the Sockathon logo that says “Change your Socks, Change the World.” He wrote and directed volunteers in a Godfather spoof, complete with music, Sockfather Part 1, with 1200 views on YouTube. A team of musicians developed the Change your Socks, Change the World theme song, posted on the MySpace Sierra Club Socks site, with a growing friends list. The videographer interviewed Ruiz and distributed that video throughout a network of video sites.
The Jeweler stopped short of creating a bracelet for the event, but spread the word on her online communities. The fireman helped publicize the event on his blogs and within the firefighting community, and posed for a picture with the Change your Socks T-Shirt.
Meanwhile, Ruiz drew upon his Super Hero Cards and brought into being Sock Man and Sock Woman, complete with super powers to help people reduce their carbon footprint! Their advent is announced in the Super Hero Bulletin. Ruiz even drew a “S ock Market cartoon.”
The creative spree inspired by Ruiz with his sky-size vision for the inSiders, also inspired a second-grade Michigan girl, Catrina Guenther and her mother to participate. When Sockathoners mention Catrina, she will get credit for helping inspire them, and the results will be reported. To date, an estimated 100 pairs of socks will be donated because of Catrina.
Sierra Club Socks for men and women are made from quality organic cotton, bamboo, soy and other earth friendly recycled yarns. Order the Sierra Club Socks online at www.sierraclubsocks.com.
Create your own network of social creatives if there is an inSide AreaCodes network in your community.