Orleans woman collects 300 pairs of socks for Open Door Mission
Provided photos
ROCHESTER – Tammi Bale of Clarendon is pictured on Thursday with 300 pairs of new socks that she delivered to the Open Door Mission in Rochester.
Bale collected the socks for the second year as part of a “Just Socks, Ma” campaign in honor of her son, Robert Bale. He had a good job as a HVAC technician, often working 50 hours a week. He also had a secret addiction. He used heroin. His family didn’t know it, nor did his roommate or close friends.
On March 10, 2016, he had a fatal overdose at age 28.
Robert Bale’s picture is displayed with some of the socks collected for the Open Door Mission.
Robert was a hard-working young man who didn’t want to burden other people, even at Christmas, his mother said. When Tammi Bale asked her son what he wanted for a present, he responded: “Just socks, Ma.”
Bale also delivered 50 pairs of socks to another organization, Hope Dealers, which works with homeless residents, many battling addictions.
Chris Scribani, assistant development director at Open Door Mission, accepts the socks from Tammi Bale on Thursday.
