Soup Run - January 27

By Despina Kartson

Last night we provided 110 meals - lemon chicken, vegetables, rice - to our guests on 33rd Street in Manhattan who were patiently waiting for us on a windy January evening. Our caravan of cars loaded with volunteers, food and clothing pulled up to a crowd lined up on the sidewalk. We quickly set up tables, unloaded boxes, bins and bags full of warm food, toiletries, winter coats, sweaters, pants and blankets. To witness the soup run operation, from the time we leave church until the time we return, is to witness a beautiful coming together of volunteers working so well together to serve the hungry and the homeless.

We provided clothing to many women and men and received requests for underwear and socks - always the two most needed items. To some of our guests, our meal was their only meal of the day, our clothing was their only opportunity to wear something warm, dry and clean and a coat was what a pregnant woman needed most.

While we feed their bodies, we also offer food for their souls. Thanks to Eirini Metaxas, we offered beautiful icons with scripture and encouraging words. As one man told Eirini that he was grateful for the icon and said “soul food is the most important kind of food”.

Our friends Luther and Carolyn are happy to be in an apartment for the first time in years. As they told us, they were finally sleeping indoors, on a bed and able to enjoy watching Cheers on TV! The very simple, yet critically important things in life - to be indoors and to sleep on a bed! Thanks to George and Colleen Kourakos, we gave them linens and housewares and Phil Herzegovitch drove them to their new apartment with a trunk full of goodies!

Special thanks to all who volunteered, those who support the monthly soup run behind the scenes, Georgeanne Mavrovitis, Constance Mavrovitis and Cynthia Herzegovitch for organizing the clothing and toiletries, Manny Louros for the delicious food, and for this month's anonymous sponsor. We are also most appreciative of donations of socks, underwear (men's and women's), coats and blankets - which are the only donations we are accepting at this time. Please join us on February 23rd.

Soup Run Update - October 27

By Despina Kartson

Last night in the torrential rain, a group of men and women patiently waited on the sidewalk in Manhattan for our group to set up food, coffee and clothing as we do every month - and as our guests have come to anticipate our time with them. We served more than 100 meals of lemon chicken, rice, vegetables, fruit, granola bars and coffee. It was difficult to keep everything dry but we worked as quickly as we could to serve the warm meals and then we went into Penn Station and distributed more meals.

In Penn Station, we met Kevin who asked us to pray for him. We said we would and then he asked us if we would pray with him at that moment. We asked Kevin what he wanted to pray for and he said "a book to read and that you won't see me out here any more". A book to read - such a simple request.

We also met one of our "regulars" who had not expected to see us because of the rain. She asked for our priest and came outside to 33rd Street to meet Fr. Patrick. She had a cart with her that was empty because her belongings were stolen when she left her cart earlier in the day to buy a cup of tea. We loaded her up with the remaining clothing we had - she took everything we offered.

A homeless Vietnam veteran, whose grandson is serving in the military in the Middle East, talked with us for a while and was grateful for food and conversation. He thanked us; we thanked him for his service. Another man told us he lost his apartment in a fire and is happy that at least he has a car to live in. We also talked with a man who had no clothes and we took him to KMart and bought a pair of pants.

Thank you to Manny for cooking the delicious meal, to our anonymous sponsor, to Minos Samoladas for his generous donation which enabled us to purchase numerous socks and underwear, and to the many volunteers who served, donated and supported our mission. Please join us next month on November 17.

Annual Night of Champions

The annual Night of Champions sponsored by the Westchester Community Opportunity Program (Westcop) was held on Friday, October 7th at Holy Trinity Church.