January 2026 | Vol. 35 Iss. 1
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Riverton
Skate park closes See City still to decide on rebuild, relocate or forego entirely Page 4 Inside...
Why do kids miss school
Jordan School District tackling the root of chronic absences Page 18
Riverton family steps up to provide socks By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com Annual sock drive is toe-tally successful.
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housands of people will have warm feet this winter thanks to a neighborhood sock drive in Riverton that’s been growing in popularity. Annie Chase and her three children started the holiday sock drive in 2020, but this year’s event set a record-breaking number as they gathered more than 2,100 pairs of socks at the beginning of December. “I was shocked,” Chase said. “We tell people to leave them on the porch or by the mailbox and we’ll grab them, and there were so many socks that we were picking up. When the kids would see a bag of socks, they’d get so excited to run up to the door and grab them. It was really exciting.” As the event has grown, the Chase kids have recruited friends to help them distribute flyers and gather donations. This year, the kids ran the sock drive themselves, being proactive about letting the neighborhood know what they were doing and spending a Saturday morning picking up the fancy footwear. Chase loves the variety of socks that are donated, especially ones that are colorful, fuzzy, bright, funny or interesting. Plain white or black socks are good, too, but she said, “We want kids to go to school and have fun socks. It just boosts them a little bit.” Chase’s children, Dallas (14), Eric (11) and Aly (9) attend American Preparatory Academy. This is the sixth year their family has organized the sock drive and now it’s become a holiday tradition. This year, all the socks were donated to The Road Home. “It feels pretty good to do this,” Dallas said. “I’ve never gone without, but even just being cold in my house, I know it sucks, so I can’t imagine what it would be like outside without socks.” The Chase family has lived in Riverton for 15 years, and by now, neighbors know to expect this annual sock drive. Chase said she was struck by people’s generosity, especially this year, when families are dealing with higher prices and inflation. “I feel very blessed because we’ve never struggled, but I do notice that food prices are higher,” Chase said. “I do notice that everything is more expensive. I feel so
blessed that we can keep up with everything. I just wonder how hard it must be for people who can’t. There’s got to be a lot of people struggling out there, so I want to be able to give.” Dallas said it’s been fun to get more friends and neighbors involved in the annual activity and to see more peo-
ple donate each year. He hopes it will encourage people to organize their own events to help people who might need assistance, especially during the holidays. “Don’t be ashamed to do it,” he said. “If you feel like you are supposed to be doing it, you should just do it. What’s the worst that can happen?” l
From top left, George Fox, Brody Allred, Ryder Adamson, Peter Fox, Eric Chase and Dallas Chase joined (bottom from left) Greta Fox and Aly Chase to gather more than 2,100 pairs of socks in their annual sock drive. (Photo courtesy of Annie Chase)