Midnight Run Brings Food to Homeless
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the sisters of Lambda Pi Upsilon Sorority Incorporated made and distributed sandwiches to the homeless in downtown New Haven in an event called “Midnight Run.” The organization planned to give peanut butter and jelly and turkey with cheese sandwiches downtown but, because it rained, the meals were dropped off at a homeless shelter on Grand Ave.
“It brings the community together, it’s one of our most successful events, and it directly impacts our Chapter philanthropy which is homelessness in women and children,” said President Olivia Acevedo.
Other student organizations gathered at the Bartels Fireplace Lounge to participate in preparing sandwiches and to contribute supplies. According to Acevedo, a lot of the Greek and non-Greek organizations co-sponsored the event. They were asked to promote and provide the items that were needed to make sandwiches. Some organizations donated multiple items, and also assisted with making sandwiches and bagging them up with a snack item.
“We are really happy with the turnout we had this year,” said Acevedo. “There were so many co-sponsors and just general members of the campus community who came out. We’ve never had that many people present at any of our events. We imagined that this event would one day get so big and it did in just a year’s time. We hope that by exposing the campus community to our organization through Midnight Run, they will be more inclined to come out to our other events.”
Lambda Pi Upsilon offers many other events and community service opportunities for campus students, including their annual Halloween Boo Party for children at Stepping Stone Transitional Housing.
“This year there are over 40 kids in the program,” said Acevedo. “A lot of them can’t afford costumes and don’t have the opportunity to trick or treat. We hope to brighten up their Halloweens.”
The organization will also hosts a collection of non-perishable food items drive on Nov.13 for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
