Jasmine Heft, LAHS DECA President, displays a collection box for DECA Sock Drive. Photo Courtesy LAPS
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
The Los Alamos High School (LAHS) DECA Chapter is collecting socks for homeless shelters in Santa Fe and Espanola during the month of November. Collection boxes are located at the high school in A-Wing, D-Wing, and E-Wing (Activities Office), Los Alamos Middle School (LAMS) Front Office and the lobby of Los Alamos Schools Credit Union.
Each academic year, LAHS DECA Chapter selects a community serviceproject to support. For the fifth consecutive year, DECA students voted to hold a sock drive to solicit donations of new socks for homeless shelters in the region.
DECA is an international business organization, with both high school and collegiate chapters, focused on business education. DECA students spend the academic year concentrating on areas such as marketing, finance, business administration, and hospitality and tourism. Students participate in competitions in these topics at regional, state, and international levels. DECA students are also expected to participate in an annual service project benefiting the local or regional area.
“Part of the DECA experience is serving our local and regional community, and learning the value of collaboration and teamwork,” commented DECA Advisor, Dr. Sharon Hurley. “Last year we partnered with Los Alamos Middle School and Los Alamos High School NJROTC for this project. With the help of these organizations and generous donations from community members, we collected more than 500 pairs of socks in November of 2024.”
“It is amazing to realize the number of individuals we were able to provide some comfort to through this service project,” she said. “We hope to gather as many, or more, pairs of socks this year.”
LAHS DECA will collect socks throughout the month of November and then take them to homeless shelters in mid-December. Once again partnering with LAMS and NJROTC, the LAHS DECA chapter has set a goal of collecting 500 (or more) pairs of socks to donate to the shelters this year.
“This service project reminds us to shift our focus to serving others in our community,” Dr. Hurley commented. “While our students spend a great deal of time academically preparing forour competitions, service projects reinforce the concepts of serving others and how helping in small ways can create large impacts in the community.”
Community members are invited to participate in the DECA service project by dropping socks off at the high school or middle school collection sites. Additional winter items such as gloves, scarves, hats and blankets are also accepted, but the primary focus is on collecting socks.