We had a large and enthusiastic group of volunteers who served food and distributed clothing and toiletries to more than 125 guests in New York City during last night’s soup run. Celebrating an early Thanksgiving, we served turkey dinners, including traditional sides of stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables.
As we expanded our outreach and covered the large block around Madison Square Garden, we offered food, socks, hats, scarves and blankets to those congregating on the steps of the Post Office and waiting to enter the drop-in center. We talked with a group of seven who were settled in for the night at the corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue. When we asked them about their safety on the street, they told us “as long as we are together, we will be OK”. One of the men kept touching the hand-crocheted scarf we gave him and said he couldn’t believe someone made it for him. He said he wished he had a wall to hang it on so that he could admire it. We also met a young couple who left the shelter system after the woman said she was beaten by a group of women. They now live in Penn Station with little direction for their future. We also talked with a man who asked for long johns to keep his legs warm. He thanked us for the down coat we had given him earlier in the evening, saying even though it was a woman’s coat, it was keeping him warm and he didn’t mind wearing it.
Thank you to the donors, supporters and volunteers of the Soup Run. We could not feed and clothe so many every month without the kindness and generosity of our extended community. This month we express gratitude to our supporters from across Westchester County, Queens and New York City:
- Eugenia Kalmanidis (St. George, Norwalk) for her sponsorship
- Sandwiches from Kathryn Papataros
- Manny Louros and Zachary Karounos for preparing sandwiches and Basil Apostle and Kelly Sisco for packing
- Michael Fennessy at Somers Hot Bagels for his donation of bagels
- Minos Samoladas for his generous donation which enabled us to purchase clothing
- Socks from Alexandra Speres
- Willie Sleight, Amy Nielson, Deborah Farone and the NY Legal Marketing Association (https://www.legalmarketing.org/page/northeast-news) for toiletry items
- Melina Morris and Bombas (https://bombas.com/) for socks
- Kathleen Haverlack Wasser and the American Lung Association (https://www.lung.org/) for shirts
- May Vlachos (St. George NYC) for preparing the Mental Health Clinic guide and including the Soup Run dates
- Constance Mavrovitis and Cynthia Herzegovitch for organizing the clothing
- Georgeann Mavrovitis and Loredana Soravito Curtis for preparing the toiletry kits
Remember those who are hungry and experiencing homelessness. Your kindness knows no bounds. Please join us next month on December 19, 2019 (not December 26). In January, we will be back on our “last Thursday of the month” schedule. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on this special day when we count our blessings and all things for which we are grateful.