Ghana says thanks to Randolph Y for old sneakers

Daily Record staff reports

RANDOLPH — The president of an agricultural institute in Ghana traveled to the West Morris YMCA Monday to thank people for donating their used sneakers, which were shipped to the African nation and then resold to raise money to buy irrigation systems and agricultural supplies.

More than 2,000 pairs of shoes were collected at the YMCA and the proceeds from the sale of those shoes were able to provide three families with supplies that would lift them out of poverty, according to Christine O’Marra, who coordinated the local collection for a national organization called Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation.
"We put barrels at the Y and asked members to bring in used sneakers and athletic shoes," O’Marra said. "They are then shipped to Baltimore and put on a cargo ship to Ghana where they are refurbished and sold to raise money."
Samuel Owusu-Taki, who heads an agricultural institute in Ghana that partners with the Foundation, thanked O’Marra and others at the Y, presenting them with figurines and a banner made in his home country.
There are 30 YMCAs in the state participating in the program, including Morris Center, Lakeland and Summit, and so far they have collected more than 5,000 pairs of shoes in about a year, O’Marra said.
Foundation founder Jim Riordan has previously said the $1,800 the foundation gets for selling 600 pairs goes toward helping provide irrigation systems with bicycle-powered water pumps for families in Ghana, along with a rabbit and a hutch, or livestock — items the family can use to farm.
Riordan said he began his organization three years ago and collects sneakers from New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Arkansas and Washington, D.C. There are 30 YMCAs in New Jersey participating in the program, including Morris Center, Lakeland and Summitt, and so far they have collected more than 5,000 pairs of shoes in about a year, O’Marra said.

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