As I stood in the freezing cold at 12:00 a.m., I looked around and a smile spread across my face while I watched my friends hand out clothes, toiletries and food to the homeless.
On Dec. 3, Sigma Phi Epsilon, a fraternity from New York University, sponsored the Midnight Run, which is a “volunteer organization dedicated to finding common ground between the housed and the homeless” according to the website.
It isn’t really a run; it’s actually making stops at certain “homeless hot spots” or locations in Midtown Manhattan. At the stops, we hand out the supplies.
Sig Ep set up tables and boxes throughout NYU’s campus so students could donate warm clothes, blankets or toiletries. I volunteered to help out along with some of the other members in my sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau.
We worked at the tables, handed out fliers and stormed the dorms (we went to all the rooms in a dorm and asked if anyone had extra clothes to donate). Then we collected everything and prepared to take it to the homeless people in the Garment District.
We arrived at our first stop at the top of Madison Square Park and started the run. Then we moved on to a church on 29th Street, and we finally reached Penn Station as our last stop. I carried a bag of hats and scarves with me along the way while my friends carried jackets, underwear and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches.
The experience was most gratifying at Penn Station. We had the more people stop for help there than the other places. They had heard we were coming and needed our help. It was a freezing night, and these people were bundled as best they could, but it wasn’t enough.
I was heartbroken at how these people had to live, and I wanted to help them. Serving the homeless gave me joy, and helping them gave me a sense of accomplishment that’s better than an A in school or making a great business deal.
The Midnight Run was a definite success, and everyone involved benefited from the experience.
