Aaron puts a sock in the Achiever Awards

ANT KATZ

Oved immediately contacted an associate, Nic Haralambous, and the two put in motion a plan to help Aaron in his social entrepreneurial venture of collecting socks for the needy.

It would also put him on the map with the likes of DA leader Mmusi Maimane and former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan at the Absa Jewish Achiever Awards.

Young Aaron had been nominated for a Jewish Achiever award in The Creative Counsel Young Jewish Entrepreneur Award category for his Rock your Sock project. He may not have won the title, but by the end of the evening he was probably better known and supported than the winner.

Oved, together with his partner Ran Neu-Ner, co-own The Creative Counsel and are former Achiever winners and sponsors of the award in the category in which Aaron was nominated.

Oved and Haralambous, who manufactures premium brand bamboo socks under the brand Nic Harry, decided to play a great prank on Aaron – aimed at furthering his cause – at the Jewish Achievers’ gala banquet on  August 13. “I snuck in with Gil before the event and we put a pair of socks on every seat,” says Nic.

Guests were then invited to put their socks into a special bin on the night – unless they wanted to take them home. Of over 600 pairs of socks that Haralambous and Oved put on chairs, 485 were binned for Aaron to add to his fundraiser.

One guest, who obviously really, really wanted to have a pair of Nic’s socks, swapped what he was wearing with the premier bamboo version, and put his used pair in the bin.

Aaron – a grade 2 pupil at Montrose Primary – had set himself a target of collecting 15 000 pairs of socks by  September 1. His mom, Lee,  said this week that Aaron was so close that she was sure he would reach that target, and more. “We are at 14 500 today and I am picking up a lot more this afternoon,” she said.

Greenblatt says they have no shortage of charitable groups looking for socks, and Aaron is now picking up corporate donors as well. What they are short of, she says, is kids’ socks “since Harry has come onboard and he only makes adult sizes”.

As for Haralambous, he is thrilled to be giving away socks. “We didn’t really see it as a promotion,” he says. “I decided to get involved to help Aaron. If we can create enthusiasm like I see in Aaron at eight, just imagine what he will be producing when he is 28,” he says.