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No. 2 Vol. 5
mypaperonline.com
May 2016
Organizations In Chatham Bridge Gap To Help Feed Homeless
By Jason Cohen acilitated through Bridges Outreach, a homeless advocacy organization based in Summit, students from Chatham High School and members of the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township (PCCT) helped feed the homeless in April. On April 2, Chatham High School’s Fear the Gear robotics squad teamed with up its Columbia High School counterpart and Stanley Congregational Church members in Irvington’s Civic Square to make more than 120 brown bag lunches for the homeless. The supplies were donated by both teams and Stanley Church members. Kindergartners from Summit’s Central Presbyterian Church provided an additional 70 lunches. Lucy Malatesta and her son, Paul, 17, a member of the robotics team, have been attending Bridges charity runs for more than a decade. “I would say the most powerful thing is when one of them [a homeless person] says ‘God bless you’ because you know they actually mean it,” Paul said. When Lucy asked Paul about putting on a robotics show at the run, he and his teammates embraced the idea. They had the robots fight, which caused a few homeless people to want to take bets, Paul noted. After lunch it was nice to schmooze and interact with them, Lucy explained. “Most homeless people just want someone to talk to,” she said. She reminisced how in 2011 Paul came in old jeans and sneakers to feed the homeless and one man said to him, “Where’s your mother?” The homeless man told Lucy he has a 13-room mansion with several bathrooms called Penn
Station. Looking back on the work that her son and his friends do, she commented that kids in Chatham truly want to help other people. “I usually don’t feel bad, I usually feel joy,” Lucy said about her emotional state when feeding the homeless. On April 8, volunteers from the PCCT made more than 200 sack lunches for the homeless that were delivered that evening to the homeless in New York City. The church participates in the events like this four times a year through Bridges. Founded in 1988, Bridges’ vision is to eliminate the social and economic divides between the housed and the homeless. It serves the homeless in New York City, Newark, Irvington and Summit every
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week. Each year, more than 2,000 volunteers from churches, corporations and other organizations help deliver 65,000 meals, seasonal clothing and necessities. Lois Bhatt, who has been
the executive director of Bridges for 13 years, echoes the Malatesta’s sentiment that as much as homeless people need food, it’s the interaction with other people they crave.
“Whenever you go out on the street and you meet homeless people they are warm and friendly,” Bhatt said. “It’s always nice if you share a part of yourself with them.”
Chatham Twp. Committee To Host Suicide Awareness Prevention Presentation
he Chatham Township Committee, in its continuing efforts to raise awareness of suicide prevention, plans to host a community-based presentation, “Talk Saves Lives,” in conjunction with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), on Thurs., June 2 at 6:30 p.m., at the Chatham Township Municipal Building. Individuals interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP to Mayor Curt Ritter at Mayor@chathamtownship-nj.gov. Mayor Curt Ritter said, “Earlier this year, we heard statistics from the School District of the Chathams in which four percent of middle school students and eight percent of high school students have thought about suicide. Suicide is preventable, and while it’s not a topic that is often dis-
cussed, I hope this presentation will help shed light on this important issue. We know that suicide does not discriminate, and I encourage all residents to take one hour of their time to attend this important presentation to learn how together we can help prevent suicide.” Ritter continued, “In addition, in our continuing effort to increase awareness of this important issue, this September 24, we will host the first annual ‘Out of the Darkness Walk’ at the Chatham High School to help increase awareness of suicide prevention. Individuals interested in participating or volunteering can visit http://bit.ly/1SLTlEe or contact me directly.” continued one page 8