When you think of the immediate needs of the homeless, clean socks may not be the first thing that come to mind. But they’re essential, says Ira Gooch, a program coordinator at Bridge Over Troubled Water, a shelter for homeless youth in downtown Boston. “We’re dealing with a real sock shortage,” he notes. “We’re not allowed to accept used socks. And when you’re homeless, socks are a really big deal.”

In 2013, entrepreneurs Randy Goldberg and David Heath stumbled across a Facebook post that mentioned a serious need for socks at homeless shelters around the country. They decided to launch a sock company called Bombas that would follow the one-for-one model pioneered by the shoe brand Toms and adopted by brands like Warby Parker. Bombas has worked hard to develop a line of premium, high-tech, fashionable socks, between $12 and $18, that customers would want to buy. Some of Bombas’s best-selling socks are dapper polka-dot dress socks for men and pastel color-block crew socks for women. Four years later, they have sold–and donated–nearly four million pairs.

This year, Bombas has been creating ways for other brands to dip their toe into the world of social good. In February, they created an event called “60K day,” which was based on the concept than on any given night, 60,000 people in New York end up at a homeless shelter.

“We don’t want Skip Day to be a one-off chance for people to help,” Hofstetter says. “We’re trying to lay a foundation so that they feel comfortable continuing to do this work on their own. There is so much need, we need all hands on deck.”

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