OrthoAtlanta Surgery Center in Austell, Ga., partnered with Southern Medical Linen Service to donate its lightly used surgical socks to benefit homeless shelters and local need organizations.
OrthoAtlanta donated some 2,000 pairs of socks to Sweetwater Mission, a local food and clothing nonprofit, through its first donation. Patients get the socks during surgery, and they are immediately discarded after the procedure ends. Center administrator Lynda Krokoff recognized the amount of sock waste the center was producing and realized that the socks, "most of which had never touched the floor," could be used to greater benefit.
The surgery center will continue to donate socks going forward.