Building Community at Sock It to Me: Matt Katz

If there’s a pillar of Sock It to Me that gets the most passionate engagement from our internal employees, it would certainly be our desire to Create a Community of Belonging. We truly believe that our small-business’ success relies upon our connectedness to those around us, and our desire to create a better, more inclusive world by allowing everyone the opportunity for self-expression.

As an exemplary example of the Sock It to Me team, Matt Katz truly embodies the values and focus of our business. We’re proud to feature him as our January “Human of the Month.” Yes, he may be the magic behind our Sales division, but in his just-under-three-years with SITM, it didn’t take long before Matt was leading the charge in connecting with local organizations to learn what we could be doing to support their initiatives. From unsolicited phone calls to snail mail sent with a little confetti and magical flying pony dust, Matt has made every effort to connect with our neighbors near and far and figure out a way we can work together to make the world a bit better.

In 2021 alone, Matt took charge to complete donations to over 17 different charities, amounting to a total of almost 24,000 units of Sock It to Me socks, underwear, and facemasks along with cash contributions to help those in their important fundraising efforts. Most notably, Matt built strong relationships with some great new partners including Transition Projects, Rahab’s Sisters, Clackamas Women’s Services, Cascade Aids Project, The Mustard Seed, Multnomah County Library, and New Avenues for Youth.

Along with the administrative coordination of product donations, Matt devoted his time and energy to actually sorting through thousands of pieces of inventory, packaging boxes upon boxes of needed items, and even personally delivering to several locations. There’s nothing that Matt won’t do to see a smile on the face of someone at one of our partners’ businesses. 

According to Matt, the reason he’s so passionate about working with donation partners is so that we can be reminded of the empowerment that comes with such simple items. A motivating or encouraging theme or sentiment can go a long way in building confidence and remaining positive no matter the circumstance someone finds themselves in. That innate ability to connect with humans all over the community has motivated him, and the business, to place importance on doing as much as we can to help those in need.

As we head into the new year, Matt, with the help of an internal committee, was able to select four keystone partners that we’ll be able to work with on a large scale and serve to the best of our ability. We’re delighted to announce that our 2022 charitable efforts will be focused on Meals on Wheels People, The Lavender Rights Project, Rose Haven, and Transition Projects. Each of the selected charities are local neighbors in the Pacific Northwest and provide critical services and support to those in our very own community.

We have some exciting ideas for the future and we can’t wait to share with you, our Sock It to Me family, as we make an impact on the greater good. To find out more about our selected partners, visit their web pages below to read their stories. We’re positive you’ll be motivated by them too!

Tprojects.org

Lavender Rights Project

Rose Haven

Meals on Wheels People

And, if you are an organization in need of support, feel free to reach out to us by submitting a request form for future consideration. We’d be happy to review your needs and help you out as we can. Please join us in thanking and celebrating Matt Katz for the wonderful human that he is! With a kind heart and the best hat collection around, he’s a friend anybody is lucky to know.