Poppy Bass
The Save Our Socks program reached a monumental milestone of donating more than 10,000 pairs of socks to local social service agencies that serve elderly or homeless populations.
Launched in 2016, this upcycling initiative was created by Poppy Bass, senior project manager in Information Services (IS), and Laura Lombardo, Community Relations manager. Bass wanted to find another use of the skid-resistant socks that patients are given during a hospital stay or outpatient procedure. While some patients take the socks home, most often they are left behind and thrown out after just a single wear.
The group partnered with HUP’s laundry vendor to wash the socks, and then Bass and Lombardo reached out to various groups within the Health System to help match the socks. Nursing groups at both Penn Presbyterian and HUP helped out as well as volunteers from Clinical Effectiveness & Quality Improvement, IS, and Public Affairs.