Volunteer project turns surplus goods into bounty for the poor

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

In a dusty warehouse in Port Newark, in front of 20,000 pounds of flour, nearly a dozen volunteers from churches and synagogues in Millburn/Short Hills gathered around a long wooden table sorting toys, coats, toiletries, even silk flowers. Some had been working since eight that morning, when they had unloaded a truck recently arrived from Denver. Once the volunteers finished their sorting, packages would be picked up by 15 area charities and distributed to those in need.

Every year for the past five years, members of Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn have helped coordinate and carry out this effort, working closely with The Redistribution Center, a Denver-based organization that collects and donates millions of dollars worth of otherwise discarded goods from America’s retailers and manufacturers.

For the first time this year, four Millburn churches joined in as well.

“I thought it would be a good project to unify the congregations. We’ve been trying to get the houses of worship [in Millburn] to work together. This project was organized by the social action chairpeople of each of the congregations,” said B’nai Israel’s Rabbi Steven Bayar, who also serves as president of the Interfaith Clergy Association of Millburn.

Each year, B’nai Israel member Ken Gross donates the space in Van Brunt Warehouse, a family-owned business, and subsidizes the cost of the truck’s journey from Denver to New Jersey.

Participating churches this year included Saint Rose of Lima in Millburn, and Christ Church, Community Congregational Church, and Bethany Baptist Church, all in Short Hills.

By noon on Monday, April 11, the unloading and much of the sorting had been completed ahead of schedule. Among the volunteers was Barbara Neugebauer of Short Hills, a member of Christ Church. “I wanted to help,” she said. “In Short Hills, we are blessed with so many things. I want to share that with those who have less.” And she commented on another benefit of her involvement. “I was really glad to meet the other volunteers. We can be so insular, meeting the same people over and over. It’s wonderful to meet new people. It’s like a shared enterprise.”

The force behind the Redistribution Center is Ranya Kelly, also known as the Shoe Lady. The Denver woman said a chance encounter 18 years ago with shoes discarded in a dumpster changed her life. “I was looking in a dumpster near a strip mall for a plain box to use,” Kelly explained to a reporter as she oversaw the volunteers in the Van Brunt warehouse. “When I picked up the box, I saw all types of shoes — everything from name brands to work boots — you name it.” While her 18-month-old son sat in his car seat, she loaded the brand-new shoes — 500 pairs — into her car.

After giving shoes to family and friends, she still had hundreds of pairs left over. A friend suggested taking them to Samaritan House, a local charity.

What she discovered was that the shoes she had found hadn’t sold and were therefore discarded by the store. Kelly has spent the past 18 years recovering such merchandise from retailers.

In 1991 she created her nonprofit organization, located in Wheat Ridge, Colo. She collects millions of dollars worth of goods every year and redistributes them to people in need, all on a budget of $35,000 a year, which covers expenses like gas, vehicle insurance, truck rentals, and liability insurance, but not labor. “None of us are paid; this is all volunteer work,” she said. While she works 40-60 hours a week herself, she draws no salary. Last year, she collected $1.5 million dollars worth of goods (in salvage cost). Since 1991, she estimated, she has given away $23 million dollars worth of merchandise.

In recognition of her work, the Millburn-based Ziv Tzedaka Fund has recognized her as a mitzva hero and given her grants to carry on with her work.

While her focus remains in the Denver area, Kelly will go anywhere people need her goods. “I’ve traveled to New Mexico to Indian reservations, to South Dakota, and Detroit. I just shipped 30,000 coats to California to give away to migrant workers there. And we gave 80,000 pounds of flour to food banks on the East Coast.… It’s incredible to see the amount of people willing to come together as a group,” she said, and pointed to one of the volunteers that day at the Van Brunt Warehouse in Newark. “Look at her smiling. It just makes people feel good to make such a difference.”

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.