Midnight Run Set for Night of Oct. 17 As Volunteers Fan Out to Help Homeless
Over 1,000 relief missions will unite to deliver basic necessities such as toiletries, blankets, food and clothing to New York’s unhoused population on the night of Oct. 17 and into the wee hours of Oct. 18.
| 17 Oct 2024 | 04:33
New York Society of Ethical Culture volunteers speak with a person they encountered on the street during a previous Midnight Run. (
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The New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) is partnering 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 will gather to distribute blankets, toiletries, food, and clothing to the unhoused. The event takes place on the evening of October 17, and stretches 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. NYSEC typically gets around 25 student volunteers from each partnered university campus, in addition to as many volunteers as they can spare themselves. Each $25 donation to NYSEC yields 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 on the West Side.”
NYSEC volunteers meet around 10:30 p.m.. This year, they will be participating on the Upper West Side “and may go into Central Park,” Andrew Smith, NYSEC’s senior editor and strategist, said in an email.
Williamson said they will participate for several hours. “The last two times, it was like 1:30 in the morning,” she added, “and we were just getting started on making different stops.”
During their last Midnight Run, Dr. Koral said NYSEC had enough resources to help about 75 homeless people within their assigned area. NYSEC plans to participate in the Midnight Run four times this year.
“They are expecting us,” Williamson said. When Midnight Run relays information to the volunteer organizations, the volunteers will 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.”
Dr. Koral said that NYSEC has yet to face any major challenges on their Midnight Runs. Dr. Koral’s first Midnight Run was, he said, “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.”