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Centennial Middle School seventh-grader finds a cause: cancer patients

 
Sally Campbell, 12, has  collected thousands  of socks for cancer patients.
Sally Campbell, 12, has collected thousands of socks for cancer patients.
Published April 29, 2015

DADE CITY — Sally Campbell never got to meet the great-grandmother after whom she was named. Cancer had a hand in that. But the memories shared by loved ones helped propel the Centennial Middle School seventh-grader into joining a cause to help others affected by cancer — maybe even help put a smile on their faces.

Sally, 12, found something to pour her heart into after hearing about SOCKS (Students Organizing Cancer patients Krazy Socks), a nonprofit organization started by Pasco High student Courtney Nathe that provide socks to cancer patients.

"I heard about it on the radio, and I wanted to get involved," said Sally, who followed up by meeting with Nathe over lunch at ABC Pizza in Dade City.

After viewing Nathe's PowerPoint presentation, Sally was in.

Turns out, aloe-infused and therapeutic socks are a much-desired item for cancer patients undergoing treatments — as are the crazy designs that can lift someone's spirits.

Sally was impressed enough to sign on as a junior board member and took it a step further by starting her own offshoot called "Sallybrating with SOCKS." Since the beginning of the school year, she figures she has collected more than 2,000 pairs.

"The socks come from friends and family, even from other states like South Carolina," Sally said.

Some of those socks have gone to local cancer patients. Now Sally plans to extend her reach with the help of a Disney Friends for Change grant.

Sally was one of 125 kids in the Untied States, and one of two in Pasco County, to receive the $500 grant.

She already has spent some of the money, recruiting volunteers and friends to entertain at a spaghetti dinner served up on Global Youth Service Day to Moffitt Cancer Center patients staying at the Benjamin Mendick Hope Lodge in Tampa.

Remaining funds will go to packaging and sending therapeutic socks to hospitals in all 50 states.

More socks will be coming in, said Sally's mom, Heather Campbell, a language arts teacher at Centennial Middle.

"She's got people who want to help out from Las Vegas and Chicago now," Campbell said. "She makes me very proud."

No big deal, according to Sally.

"I see it as my job to be kind and nice to people and (to take on) the responsibility and respect that goes with it," she said. "I think it's important to volunteer in your community — to do things for people who have done things for you. I see that as the key to life."

Michele Miller can be reached at mmiller@tampabay.com or at (727) 869-6251. Follow @MicheleMiller52.