Last Thursday night, thirteen Ma’ayanot students, two faculty members and one alumna traveled to New York City to participate in Ma’ayanot’s first ever Midnight Run mission. Midnight Run is an organization through which volunteer groups package donated goods and distribute them to homeless people in New York City late in the night. This distribution of goods gives homeless individuals access to clothing, food and other necessities that they would not otherwise have. (To learn more about Midnight Run, visit the website:http://www.midnightrun.org/index.php)
Led by faculty adviser Ms. Caryn Keller, and Ma’ayanot Chesed Committee heads Shana Adler ‘16 and Tamar Even-Hen ‘16, the group distributed clothing, toiletries, and food to members of the homeless community at various stops around the city. At each stop, men and women were able to pick the clothing and toiletries that they wanted from among various shampoos, toothpaste, lotions, shirts, sweatshirts, pants and the like.
To prepare for this mission, the Ma’ayanot Chessed Committee ran a clothing drive, and received hundreds of articles of clothing to distribute on the night of the run. Students then spent hours sorting and packing the clothing into boxes by size and clothing type, so that items could be easily located and given out on the night of the Run. Along with Ms. Keller, students also made sandwiches and put them in brown paper bags with granola bars, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, and Munchkins to distribute with water bottles and hot coffee.
Third grade students at the Moriah School also played a big role in helping the Ma’ayanot Chessed Committee prepare for this mission. A few weeks ago, the children packed boxes that they had decorated with soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and other necessities, so that the Ma’ayanot students could distribute these boxes to the homeless.
This run would not have been as successful as it was without generous donations from Sammy’s, Cedar Market, Grand & Essex, Target, Trader Joe’s and Dunkin Donuts. Each of these stores donated a large amount of food and other necessities that made this mission possible.
Participating in this Midnight Run mission afforded each student a new perspective as to how lucky they are and how much they take for granted. Chana Fisch ‘16 remarked, “Midnight Run was truly a heartwarming experience, and I am honored to have been a part of it. The fact that we were able to give each person something (or a few things!) that would help them to live that much more easily, and the gratitude they showed, made the night both unique and special.”
By Shana Adler ‘16
