The Livingston Coat Drive and Toiletries Challenge, which have been enfolded into an overall initiative called the Livingston Philanthropies, is continuing its collection of winter coats and travel-sized toiletries.
“Livingston’s generosity continues to reach the stratosphere. We arrived home from summer vacation to find Coat Drive Central (my garage) packed with toiletries, coats, diapers, women’s products, ‘personal shopping for the homeless’ new clothing items and more,” said Philanthropies founder Jeff Friedman of Livingston.
“I knew things were coming in during my hiatus, but I never expected to find such a huge array of exactly what’s needed by the ‘poor, homeless and disenfranchised,’” he added.
His wife, Karen Friedman, a Livingston Philanthropies volunteer, immediately began sorting the trove into toiletries and cosmetics, clothing and coats areas. Her next step is to create toiletries and cosmetics gift bags for distribution in Newark this week.
“We are both excited to return to our Newark ‘haunts’ to see our longtime friends and to distribute toiletries and cosmetics gift bags. We’ll visit perennial favorites North Reformed Church and Soup Kitchen on Broad Street, St. John’s Parish and Soup Kitchen on McCarter Highway and Penn Station, located near the Gateway Buildings and The Rock.
Friedman said that people often ask him who receives the items and clothing that is donated. He provided the following profiles of two of the recipients of donations: St. John’s Parish and North Reformed Church.
Saint John’s Parish, Newark
“St. John’s, from its earliest days, has sought to meet the physical as well as the spiritual needs of the people in the area,” said Friedman.
Today, under the direction of Barbara Maran, St. John’s is known not so much as an historic site as it is for its good works. The church has distributed more than 6,000,000 breakfasts and dinners to hungry people, and thousands of toys and books are distributed to other churches and charitable institutions at Christmas.
In the past three years, the church has opened a Medical Services Unit staffed by a full-time nurse and two volunteer doctors, and a separate Women and Children’s Center where people can eat in peace and safety. In addition, St. John’s runs a weekly food pantry, handing out more than 100 bags of food to assist those in need.
North Reformed Church,
Newark
“North Reformed Church endeavors to create a community where people feel welcomed and where lives are changed. They seek connection with their neighbors on the level of their perceived ...
