A Charitable Weekend

In a town like Chatham, it’s hard to imagine sending your child to school without shoes.

However, Joan Melroy, a Chatham resident and professional organizer, knows that bare feet are sometimes the only thing standing in the way of a child’s education in developing countries.

Melroy’s company, The Organized Advantage, LLC, is part of the northern New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-NNJ). NAPO representatives and Melroy met with the Tennessee-based charity Soles4Soles at a conference in April, and decided to help them reach their “11 in 11” goal of donating 11 million used shoes in 2011.

To encourage residents to donate, Melroy worked with the Chatham Postmaster to place a box in the Chatham Post Office for residents to drop off donated shoes starting Saturday, July 23. The box will remain there through the fall.

Melroy said that working with them was a “no-brainer,” because used shoes and clothing are often thrown away when one hires a professional organizer.

“If you look at the facts,” Melroy said, “Americans throw away millions of pairs of shoes that end up in landfills." Shoes are often overlooked when people donate clothes, because they do not realize that even heavily-worn shoes can help many in need.

“There are so many children in developing countries that can’t go to school because they don’t have shoes to wear,” added Melroy. A leading cause of diseases in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases that penetrate the skin through bare feet.

Shoes, boots and sandals of any size and condition may be donated. Even single shoes are welcome as they can be matched with others or recycled for their materials.

For further information, or if people are unable to get their shoes to the Post Office, Melroy may be contacted through her company website.

Here are other events happening in Chatham this weekend:

Friday, July 22

• Enjoy vocal harmonies with the Harmonium Choral Society at Juniper Village, 500 Southern Blvd., from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.  Free to the public.
• DJ at River Grille, 34 River Road. Starts around 10 p.m. and continues late. Great food, no cover charge.

Saturday, July 23

• Chatham Borough Farmers Market from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Chatham Train Station. Special guests this week:
  • Dr. Murphy discusses “Why Chiropractic,” at the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign booth at 9 a.m.
  • Palmina “Palmy” DeBiasse demonstrates and gives samples of her pickled eggplant, a family heirloom recipe, at 10 a.m.
  • Registered Dietician Erica Orhn prepares this month’s easy recipe from “Cooking Light” from noon until 12:30 pm.
  • Sign up for the fourth annual “Bake It! Summer Fruits Contest.” Information at the Farmers Market community table. Contest takes place on July 30.

• Summer clothing drive at Corpus Christi Church, 234 Southern Blvd. The Father English Center in Paterson desperately needs used summer clothing for all ages, infant through elderly. Drop off during masses: Saturday between 5 and 6 p.m. and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. until noon.

Sunday, July 24

• Singer Mario Cunha at Juniper Village from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.  Free to the public.