A team of volunteers has been silently supporting the homeless population in Cleveland.
They're from St. Paschal's Parish in Highland Heights and they're making sure those who have nowhere to go, get a hot meal and more in this cold weather.
The Knight Riders are people like Bob Ukovic and Rick Costanzo on a roll again because it was Wednesday.
Driving their van loaded with hot meals and supplies though a frozen city on the rise, reaching out to those who need a hand up.
It comes from the love of a lot of people. Betty Allen, for example is the unsung hero chef behind those home-cooked meals for at least 40 people every week.
This Wednesday, first stop: The Marathon Station on E 185th and I-90.
Rick and his dog are familiar faces.
"I look forward to seeing them every week. I can't tell a lie," says Rick who holds up his new long johns and smiles.
They are undergarments that can't be overrated when you're on the streets.
"It means I'm going to be dry and warm tonight," says BoBo.
It's clear BoBo is beloved. Just ask Jerome, another grateful recipient of the relief that comes personally delivered to them.
"BoBo has heart. BoBo is a good guy," says Jerome.
Still BoBo lived in the woods behind the Marathon station for 15 years. Marathon management lets him stay inside now. A makeshift room BoBo is thankful for.
For BoBo the message beyond the knight riders hot mobile meals is this.
"That there is a reason I'm still alive and there is a reason I'm going to keep on livin'' BoBo says through a long papa smurf type beard that the Knight Riders know he shaves only once a year, on his birthday.
The Knight Riders of St. Paschal's Parish are out all over the place until late in the night every single Wednesday.
“Rich? You there?” they shout into the woods behind the Munny Lot. “We got hot food!"
It's so obvious when you see them in action, why BoBo says, “These are good souls right here."
They are good souls, wearing orange hats searching for forgotten souls.
"See the footprints? So you can see they have been moving through here today," Costanzo says to volunteer Frank as they cross over railroad tracks that frequently rumble with passing trains.
They are just off of Lakeside Ave in an area where traffic is constant, but few probably ever know just how CLOSE they are to these people tucked into the woods in tents in the fridgid cold.
Like Colt.
"What's your name buddy?” Costanzo asks as he walks up to a makeshift tent with a fire.
“My name is Colt."
Colt like everybody else out here has a story.
He tells his new friends he has 2 daughters and a wife he is separated from and that he was in the service.
“Oh thank you for your service," Costanzo says and offers him some hot chocolate.
"People care about me out here. It gives me faith in humanity," Colt told Channel 3 News.
In fact, photojournalist Sean Forester and I passed Channel 3 following the Knight Riders van.
Not lost on either of us was the fact that we both are so lucky to have jobs that we love, just stone's throw from the next stop.
We found Freddie camped out on the bridge outside First Energy stadium.
He was tucked inside a hut he had made, himself wrapped up like a cold tamale.
"I've been here 25 years you lady. 25 years,” he tells us after his friends Rick and Bob introduced us to Freddie who someone hasn't frozen in 25 years of Cleveland winters.
If you've passed Freddie hunkered down on the way to a Browns game, you may not have ever guessed his story.
But everyone out here has one.
"He was a member of our church, St. Pascal in Highland Heights. His kids went to school with my kids," Costanzo says.
Ukovic adds that Freddie is a former fabricator who worked hard at a local manufacturer.
He has a pension.
He has an income.
He has a family.
But in a word, Ukovic says, his friend Freddie is, “broken".
"He's a beautiful human being. He's not trash that's thrown off to the side of the road," says Ukovic.
Freddie may be broken, but we saw firsthand on Wednesday night that he is filled up.
Filled with not just hot food when these friends show up, but with faith and the stuff that feeds the soul.
It's real.
What the Knight Riders do is real.
It matters.
Freddie and friends know their lives count.
Some have died in the streets knowing that.
"These are real people. They need help. We are here to serve them. Get them through the night," says Ukovic.
Costanzo sums it up.
“We're just doing the Lord's work. That's all I can tell you. It's that simple.”
"See u next week,” they tell their friend Freddie.
“Love you man.”