ABOUT US

What is Knock Knock Give A Sock?

Knock Knock Give A Sock (KKGS) works to humanize homeless one sock a time by bringing neighbors living in local homeless shelters and neighbors living homes together. The organization raises awareness about who are the homeless in addition to providing them fresh socks; a much needed resource in many homeless shelters. The organization uses a two-step model to achieve their goal. They first encourage a company or a community to host a sock drive, after which Knock Knock Give A Sock offers them the opportunity to host a “Meet Your Neighbors Dinner.” These dinner programs foster community engagement; effectively turning the transaction of simply donating socks into an interaction that further the aim of breaking stigmas while breaking bread.

Our Mission

KKGS aims to humanize homelessness one sock at a time by turning transactions of sock donations into meaningful interactions where neighbors can get to know one another.

Our Vision

KKGS envisions a world where individuals of all socio-economic backgrounds share, listen, and ultimately know their neighbor leading to stronger communities.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

“One cold night in November, I was handing out sandwiches to people experiencing homelessness in NYC when one man approached me. “It’s great that you’re giving out sandwiches,” he said, “but one thing we really need is socks, especially as winter approaches.” Here I was, sandwiches in hand, assuming I knew the best way to help people. In reality, helping is about listening, and hearing the needs of different communities. It was a powerful lesson, and I wanted to put it into action. I began that night, with a simple step: I went door-to-door on my NYU dorm floor and knocked on everyone’s door. I asked if they would donate just one pair of their own socks to someone experiencing homelessness. To my surprise I got over 40 pairs of socks in a single night, from a single floor. The next morning I walked out of my dorm room to find a huge pile of socks in front of my door from other people who had heard of what happened. It started small, but I knew it was such a simple concept that it could easily be grown. College students love to do good, but sometimes they need a literal knock on their door to do so. And most everyone has an extra pair of socks they can donate. That’s when the initiative Knock Knock, Give a Sock was created.”

– Adina Lichtman, KKGS Founder

FACTS & FIGURES

600,000

On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the US, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

25%

On any given night, over 138,000 of the American homeless are children under the age of 18. Thousands of these homeless children are unaccompanied, according to HUD.

1/30

That makes nearly 2.5 million children who, in 2013, lived in shelters, on the streets, or in cars,

MEET OUR TEAM

ADINA LICHTMAN

FOUNDER

Adina is the founder of Knock Knock, Give a Sock which she started during her sophomore year of college. She completed both an undergraduate and Master’s degree in social work at NYU. After finishing her studies, Adina decided to take KKGS full-time. She is in charge of the organization’s leadership and operations. When not busy collecting socks, Adina fills her time talking to strangers, painting, and traveling. Adina envisions a world where people are inclusive and working together to make a difference, and uses this as her daily motivation.

WILL WOODS

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE

Will is currently an administrative associate at Knock Knock, Give a Sock. His interaction with KKGS began with attending a Meet Your Neighbor dinner in 2018 as a Shelter Resident. This eventually progressed to speaking at dinners, virtual Meet Your Neighbor panels, and participating in the Sockcess job program. Will spent over a decade in retail banking, including five years in management before experiencing homelessness himself. He applies the data management, office administration, and general guy Friday skills accrued over the years to support KKGS behind the scenes. Will enjoys the challenge of making homelessness relatable in the corporate world. In his spare time, you can find Will cooking, writing and watching sports.

ABBI MAYERFELD

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Abbi is the program director at KKGS. When Abbi started at KKGS in 2018, her role was focused on media and communications and has expanded into program directing at KKGS. She is also a photographer, enjoys thinking creatively and fills her free time with painting. She loves to hear people’s stories and believes that through conversation and open-mindedness, we can better understand the people around us.

MEET OUR BOARD

Founding Board Members

Adina Lichtman – Founder/Director of KKGS

Joe Teplow – Founder at Rebel (Acquired by Salesforce)

Ariel Sterman – Senior Associate at Bessemer Venture Partners

Board Members

Arielle Disick – Associate Director, Legal IT at UBS

David Sklar – Managing Director, Bank of America

Doug Wallach – Managing Director, Stonepeak Partners

Hannah Sugars – Director – Deal Advisory at KPMG US

Jesse Cooper – Talent Advisor – Financial Services and Insurance Sales, Salesforce

Jordan Gosin – Senior Managing Director, Newmark

Justin Federbush – Vice President, Welsh Carson

Michelle Sarna – Psychologist, SAR Academy

Tara Tran -Director of Curriculum, Kode with Klossy

Todd Levy – Senior, Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP

Will Woods – Administrative Assistant, KKGS