Our two stops during last night’s Soup Run were very different experiences and ones that left us knowing we made a small difference in the lives of women and men who are truly struggling to make it through one day at a time. We provided 100 meals of lemon chicken, rice, and vegetables to those who met us on the sidewalk in front of a Salvation Army location in New Rochelle and to women staying at The Annex homeless shelter in Mount Vernon.
In New Rochelle, Fr. Augustine’s affable personality shone brightly as he spoke in Spanish with our guests. We walked to the Library and found several individuals sitting on benches grateful for our hot meals. Others were too strung out to respond to our offers of food.
In Mt. Vernon, we were welcomed inside the once elegant pre-war building where, with tables in place, women awaited our arrival. They greeted us warmly, but cautiously. The shelter serves a population of women who vary from one night to the next depending on what drives them to seek respite from the dangers of the homes they fled or life on the street. The women are frequent victims of rape when they spend the night unsheltered. They often arrive without any possessions or wearing little clothing.
We served a woman who is 7 ½ months pregnant who arrived earlier in the day, a victim of domestic violence. We served women who are mentally and emotionally challenged, fragile souls. Some were reluctant to approach us or needed assistance to walk to our tables while others were quite animated and had to be reminded to sit at the table and eat their dinners. Every woman, in her own way, expressed gratitude for the meals and all that we offered: underwear, toiletries, handknit hats and scarves, sweatshirts and gloves. We talked to each woman, looked them in their eyes, listened to their stories and treated them with dignity and compassion. Some moved us to tears. As we were packing up to leave, the shelter employees were transforming the room in which we served into the night’s sleeping quarters with cots and room dividers.
We work steadily throughout the month to organize the monthly Soup Run. It comes together through the incredible generosity of so many in the Holy Trinity community and beyond – including supporters and volunteers from Westchester, Queens, New York City, those of various faiths and friends of friends. This month we are grateful to the following supporters:
- Financial Support
- Minos Samoladas
- Sisterhood at Temple Israel New Rochelle – Sponsor
- Philoptochos of Holy Trinity New Rochelle
- Meals/Snacks
- Manny Louros
- Carol Schiro Greenwald
- Clothing
- Ron Nicholas and Gleason Paints (https://paintplaceny.com/location/gleason-paint-place/) – Gloves
- Cathy, Stephen, Dean and Nicholas Liakas (https://www.liakaslaw.com) – Sweatshirts
- Suzanne Negrin, Philoptochos Knitting for Charity (Holy Trinity), Alexandra King – Handknit/Crocheted Hats and Scarves (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HandknitMercantile?ref=search_shop_redirect )
- Hats – Deborah Farone
- Melina Morris and Bombas (https://bombas.com/pages/giving-back ) – Socks
- Toiletry Kits
- Georgeann Mavrovitis, Laurie Curtis, Alexandra Speres and Maryann Koutsis
Thank you to all for your continuing support and participation in this important outreach. Donations of new men’s and women’s underwear, T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and gloves are the only items we are currently accepting. The next Soup Run is scheduled for March 25, 2021.