ATTENDING THE ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE?

If you’re attending the ACFAS Annual Scientific Conference, February 22–26, 2010, in Las Vegas, please bring one or more pairs of new socks to donate for the homeless of that city.

Socks will be collected in the conference registration area of the Mandalay Bay North Convention Center. Look for the container and “Socks for the Ho meless” sign.

The project is supported by DOX Podiatry, a leading podiatry-specific electronic medical records and office management solution, and the ACFAS Consumer Education Committee. “We believe it is everyone's responsibility to give back to our community. Since our customers make their living by helping people's feet, we thought this is a perfect opportunity to give back,” says Stuart Finn, chief operating officer for DOX.

We hope to collect over 1,000 pairs of socks, which will be donated to The Shade Tree, a Las Vegas shelter for homeless and abused women, children and their pets.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 84 percent of families experiencing homelessness are female-headed, and 42 percent of children in homeless families are under age six. The recent economic crisis has only exacerbated the problems many of these families face.

“We provide the basic necessities for over 3,000 women and children each year, and donations of new socks are down significantly,” says Marlene Richter, executive director of The Shade Tree. “We are a private non-profit organization that depends upon friends to help us achieve our mission of providing safe shelter to women, children, and their pets.”