This week, Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) founder and director Jeff Friedman has announced that the Livingston-based charity is in need of new footwear for the homeless.
Friedman said, “ ‘You have to take care of your feet when you’re out on the street,’ the homeless gentleman told me. ‘If your feet go, you’re done.’ That’s why Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. acquired and donated almost 10,000 pairs of Bombas socks to homeless and profoundly poor recipients in Newark.
“It’s also why LPI is reaching out for relationships with footwear wholesalers, manufacturers, jobbers, discontinued footwear sellers, department stores and other related entities to purchase men’s sneakers and family footwear to ‘provide for the homeless, profoundly poor and disenfranchised.’ ”
He continued, “Do you have new, unused shoes still in the box to donate? Know someone in the business? While outright donations are always welcome, LPI finally has a budget to purchase wholesale lots of discontinued or overstocked footwear, focusing on men’s sneakers. Perhaps a kind Livingston resident can hook us up?”
An immediate footwear need exists across the board, particularly during the pandemic, with thousands out of work, Friedman explains. LPI’s distribution partners are, because of COVID-19 guidelines, requesting new footwear only for distribution to individuals living below the poverty line or on the streets.
“All I need are the contacts… or the shoes themselves,” said Friedman. “Please call me at 973-533-9336 (home office) or send an email to njhomeless@aol.com with leads, suggestions or counsel. Our website can be visited at njhomeless.org. Bottom line… it’s intervention time.”
In closing, he offered this quote from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo: “ ‘There is so much wealth and so much misery at the same time, that it seems incredible that people can endure such class difference and accept such a form of hunger while on the other hand, the millionaires throw away millions on stupidities.’ Although Kahlo was writing about New York City in the 1930s, her words still ring true today,” said Friedman. “It’s a reminder that we need to help each other. We’re all in this together.”
Photo: Displaying their new lap blankets hand-made by the National Council of Jewish Women Essex County knitting group, long-time LPI friend Robert, left, who has previously appeared in the Tribune, is shown with a new LPI friend in their usual positions on Route 21 (McCarter Highway) in Newark. “LPI is currently reaching out for new footwear to provide for hundreds just like them living out on the ...
