Robert Frost, in one of his poems, said, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff (Above) Michael Bruno and Adam Miracle, both of Holmdel, sort clothing in the pews at the Holmdel Community Church Dec. 12. The 17- year-olds are volunteers for the church's Bridges program, which brings clothing, food and comfort to the homeless living in New York City. (Below) Casey Hotalen, Taylor Maney, Allison Perz and Michele Drayer, all 14, sort clothing in preparation for the Bridges monthly outreach. Home is supposed to be a safe haven, but for some unfortunate people, home is just a word. They are homeless.

But they are not ignored, at least not by the caring and generous people who volunteer to make the Bridges program at the Holmdel Community United Church of Christ work.

The Holmdel Community Church, on Main Street, reaches out to help people around the globe with itsmany diverse programs, but one of the most ambitious is the Bridges program for the homeless in New York City.

Bridges, which has headquarters in Summit, not only involves members of the church, but also encourages the participation of people from the general community aswell as other religious groups, Scouts and school groups. They all come together one Friday a month to provide food, clothing, blankets and friendship to the homeless in lower Manhattan.

According to Kathy Logan, director of the local Bridges program, on that Friday, a caravan of several vans containing 20 to 30 adult and student volunteers travels from Holmdel to Battery Park and Center Street in New York City to hand out blankets, clothing, bag suppers, toiletries, shoes, pasta, hot soup and cocoa.At each location, the volunteers spend time talking with the homeless and getting to know them personally.

But before the vans leave on Friday, there is other work to be done. On the Wednesday before each trip, there is a sorting process.Many volunteers come to separate the clothing that was donated during the previous month. The men's clothes are put in baskets to bring to the city, and the women's and children's clothes are put aside for the SalvationArmy or a local thrift shop.

Logan said children at the Satz Intermediate School in Holmdel make up about 1,000 lunches every month.

"We had over 1,500 lunches for the last trip and got rid of them all," Logan said.

"We bag them in bags of three and we give two or three bags to each person. We try to give enough to hold them for a week. We also bring snacks and hot food, toiletries and new socks and underwear," she said.

"We call our trips 'runs.' There is a run every single Friday night of the year.

"InMay, I call the headquarters in Summit and suggest what Fridays we want.We go in about 10 out of the 12 months. They call us the big run because we usually have so much."

She noted that all of the schools in Holmdel collect different things for the homeless outreach.

Holmdel High School collects toiletries, IndianHill School collectsmen's underwear and socks, and the Village School does snack packages.

The students at the Satz School also purchase gift cards for a variety of stores that can be redeemed in the city.

"On our last trip, we had 170 gift cards," Logan said, adding that Girl Scout Troop 245 in Matawan held a garage sale and raised over $500 to pay for the gift cards.

"Themostwonderful part is that it is not just at the holidays that people are so generous. We do it all year.After all, the people are homeless all year," she said.

Logan said they see many more men at the two sites inNewYork City, but there are women and children. She explained that there are groups whominister to the homeless locally, but Bridges serves the homeless inNewYork City,Newark and EastOrange.

She said theWednesday-night sorting is a monumental feat," she said.

"Last week I had about 60 people sorting through at least 300 bags. The high school kids do a lot of the heavy work. They believe in the program, and we all getmore out of it than we feel we put into it.

"When we get to the sites, we don't just hand stuff out and leave, we sit and talk," Logan said. "I havemany stories about how these people got where they are. My whole outlook on homelessness has changed. These are human beings. A lot of it is addictions that they can't get themselves out of.

"We have an elderly couple. The man lost his job and can barely keep a roof over their heads."

Logan, who has been working with Bridges for the past 15 years, said the volunteers saw a huge number of homeless on the Dec. 14 run because the people knew there would be gift cards, but there are usually between 200 and 300 homeless people waiting for them on any given Friday.

"We meet them on the street, no matter what the weather is. There is somebody there every Friday night for them," she said, adding that the homeless people they serve love getting littlemessages in the bags from the volunteers.

"We have one lady who has notebooks full of all of the notes that she has received," Logan said.

Logan explained that Bridges began about 15 years ago at the United Church of Christ in Summit.

"When Rev. Rusty Hicks [the Rev. Russell Eidmann-Hicks] came down here from Summit, he brought the idea with him. Mike Ferraro got the kids in the schools involved. It just built upon itself."

Logan added: "Our particular group is part of Bridges, but it is really very autonomous because from the beginning, the people in this area have been so generous."

She said that Mike Ferraro of Hazlet and his wife, Joan, were the directors until three years ago, when she took over after retiring from teaching social studies at the Satz School in Holmdel.

The last trip to Battery Parkwas onDec. 14. Logan said 11 cars and vans filled with food and clothing left Holmdel with about 35 volunteers. Upcoming trips are Feb. 14 and 29, April 25, May 30 and July 18. The sorting always takes place on the Wednesday before the trip.

Donations ofmen's clothing appropriate for the season, jackets, blankets, or sleeping bags can be dropped off in the garage behind the church parish house at 40Main St. (Route 520.)Anyone who is interested in volunteering may contact Kathy Logan through the church office at (732) 946-8821.