A group of nearly 25 Resurrection parents and eighth-grade students working with the Midnight Run organization loaded up four SUVs and headed into the city to deliver supplies to four homeless shelters October 26. The group will make another run November 16.

 

 

By Sarah Varney

 

A group of nearly 25 Resurrection parents and eighth-grade students working with the Midnight Run organization loaded up four SUVs and headed into the city to deliver supplies to four homeless shelters October 26.

 

After making two runs into the city, the group stopped for breakfast at the Port Chester Diner around 2 a.m.

 

The group will make another run November 16.

 

Midnight Run, a non-profit organization created to help the homeless, has a twofold mission. The simple goal is to deliver bagged meals and basic living essentials like clothing, warm jackets, underwear, toiletry kits, and new socks to those living on the street. The other more complex goal is to give volunteers a chance to interact with the recipients one-on-one — to see the homeless as individual people with individual tales to tell of how their lives went off the rails.

 

The students sorted, folded, packaged, and loaded four vehicles for the evenings’ runs. Each vehicle was devoted to certain items: one was packed with small-size clothing, one medium, a third carried large sizes, and the last vehicle contained packaged meals. In keeping with the spirit of the project, Crisfield’s Market donated roast beef and ham and the D’Ariano family donated turkey and cheese for the meals.

 

Resurrection has worked with Midnight Run for over a decade. Julia Rogers has led the school’s effort for the last two years. “The goal isn’t to solve the homeless problem but to give these people some dignity through giving them help,” said Rogers. The groups working with Midnight Run are given strict rules to follow as they make their rounds at the shelters.

 

Several of the students have worked as volunteers with other organizations devoted to helping the homeless, including the POTS (Part of the Solution) food pantry run by Catholic Charities, so they understand the rules and know the drill.