New Bedford nurse Terri Rezendes was particularly concerned that oftentimes people who came in to the clinic she worked at didn’t have socks. Furthermore, she would often tell her aunt that food donations to the homeless, so plentiful around the holidays, dried up completely in the months following.

“If we could even just give them socks and soup,” she would say.

Unfortunately, Rezendes, who was a Marion resident, lost a hard-fought battle with breast cancer in 1999. But her spirit – she was “the most caring and compassionate person” according to her aunt Rita Bretto – lives on in the idea she created.

Bretto, who is a Rochester resident, alongside fellow organizer Willie Rose, brought Rezendes’ idea to Marion’s Community Baptist Church earlier this year. “She started it and we’re continuing her work,” Rose said of Rezendes. With the help of several volunteers, the drive has collected more than 450 cans of soup and pairs of socks to be distributed to homeless resource organizations in Wareham.

The socks are tied to the soup cans with a Valentine’s bow and card.

“It wasn’t intended to be a Valentine’s drive originally,” Rose explained, “but we thought it would be nice for people to feel like someone was thinking of them on that day.”

The cans, packed into Valentine’s-themed boxes, will be delivered to several Wareham organizations, including Saint Patrick’s Table, Wareham Community Health Center, and Turning Point, a day center for the homeless at Church of the Nazarene. Several boxes will also be delivered to local food pantries.

While the drive is new to Marion, Bretto originally brought the idea to Old Colony Regional Vocational School, where she worked as the school’s vocation coordinator for 30 years. The students were enthusiastic about the project.

In 1993, the idea won an award at the National Honor Society Convention. The Honor Society approved of the simple, effective idea; soup and socks were two items easily available for almost anyone to give. The idea spread, and other schools have adopted it.

The original intent for the project was to collect 1,000 cans and socks, but Rose said they started a little bit late. “We’ll start again earlier this year, and have more time to collect,” she said.

Even with the limited collection time, the drive had collected 432 soup cans, with more expected even as the group picked through the supply in front of them. The best part about the drive? It’s a good event for any time of year, according to its volunteers. Alongside this drive, which the group plans to make annual, they’re considering adding other occasions in the year.