Midnight Run to Help Homeless on Oct. 17 Was “Wonderful,” Volunteers Say

Between 40 and 50 unhoused people were gifted food, clothing, and taken off city streets by volunteers on the night of October 17.

The New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) partnered with Fordham University, Goddard Riverside, and Nordstrom for this year’s Fall 2024 “Midnight Run”—a coordination effort among over 1,000 relief missions. Volunteers from synagogues, churches, and schools gathered to distribute blankets, toiletries, food, and clothing to the unhoused. The event took place on the evening of October 17, and stretched into the early hours of the following morning.

“Midnight Run is an organization that brings support to the unhoused throughout New York City,” Marlene Williamson, NYSEC’s community outreach coordinator, explained.

“They have a relay system of information that goes out to volunteer organizations like ours, that then tell us ‘this is where you should go and deliver sandwiches, clothing, and toiletries,’ and so they give us a map of where we can go to deliver these things.”

According to their website, NYSEC was founded by Dr. Felix Adler in 1876 as a “Humanist community dedicated to ethical relationships, social justice, and democracy.” Almost 150 years later, the organization continues to become involved in social issues. Williamson said that Carol Gibney, a social worker at Fordham University, initiated the collaboration program with Midnight Run 20 years ago.

NYSEC typically gets around 25 student volunteers from each partnered university campus, in addition to as many volunteers as they can spare themselves. This year, they had four volunteers from Fordham University and four from NYSEC. Each $25 donation to NYSEC for the Midnight Run yielded 41 pairs of socks, 15 sets of underwear, 13 hygiene kits, or 12 undershirts to an unhoused individual.

“There are thousands of unhoused in New York City,” NYSEC’s clergy leader Dr. Richard Koral said. “So we’re just doing a very, very small amount.”

NYSEC volunteers met at Eighth Avenue and 58th Street around 9:45 p.m.. They made their way to St. Bartholomew’s Church (at Park Avenue and 52nd Street), and entered a subway station, which is where they did the bulk of their volunteering.

They finished their Run around 12:30 a.m., but Williamson said that they have gone much later on previous Runs. “The last two times, it was like 1:30 in the morning and we were just getting started on making different stops,” she said.

Dr. Koral said NYSEC had enough resources to help between 40 and 50 homeless people within their assigned area. NYSEC plans to participate in the Midnight Run four times this year. Because they coordinate their Midnight Runs with Fordham University, Williamson explained, they are waiting until December to participate in their next Run.

“They are expecting us,” Williamson said before the event. When Midnight Run relays information to the volunteer organizations, the volunteers in turn get in touch with the unhoused.

“Many of them just have burner phones,” Williamson said, “and so they don’t have the same number...so it’s word of mouth.”

NYSEC has yet to face any major challenges on their Midnight Runs, Dr. Koral said in an interview before the event. He said that his first Midnight Run was “revelatory.”

“One of the big discoveries that a person makes when they participate here is really the unity of the people who are living on the streets, and these people are living dangerous lives,” Dr. Koral said.

“That first experience of really meeting people and seeing their simple needs and how much it can help them get their lives a little bit more together and how vulnerable they are...it’s really gratifying to realize that you can offer so much help, being out there.”

Williamson said that New Yorkers who wish to participate in future Midnight Runs should email her at mwilliamson@nysec.org.