Last Night's Soup Run
by Despina Kartson
Our caravan of 5 cars and 17 volunteers left Holy Trinity last night and served more than 100 meals to our guests on 33rd Street in Manhattan during last night's soup run. We took 10 bins of new socks, underwear and clothing, which were distributed in record time, to the large crowd that was lined up and waiting for us when we arrived. We also provided whistles and toiletries, all received with much appreciation. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we packed a trunk full of kitchen items and drove the recipient to their new apartment. They were grateful and amazed with all they were given.
We happily reconnected with Judy, whom we haven't seen in a number of months. She and Richie have been dealing with significant health issues, spending much of the last year in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. Judy hopes that the worst is behind them and we will keep them, along with all we serve, in our prayers.
There were lots of people we met who were happy to see us on our regularly scheduled visit to receive our dinners - pasta with meat sauce and vegetables - and others who stopped by to talk about what we do and offer their support. We will be following up with one gentleman who has items he'd like to donate to us for the next soup run. And Louie, who leads a volunteer homeless outreach program in Manhattan, visited with us and helped organize our guests as we were in transit.
A special thank you to Ana Dimas for sponsoring last night's soup run and for her donation of the very useful Amazon food bags we now use to transport our meals. Thanks to Manny Louros for cooking, Cynthia Herzegovitch and Constance Mavrovitis for sorting and organizing the clothing donations and the large group of volunteers who spent their evening with our friends on 33rd Street. Please join us on Thursday, July 27th.
