Runners are set to lace up Saturday morning for New Orleans' first-ever Halloween 5K organized jointly by Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, a race designed to raise money for local children while giving families a safe, daytime way to celebrate the holiday. The event will pair a 3.1-mile run with a trunk-or-treat finale, blending fitness, community spirit, and candy into one morning.
According to WWL-TV, the race was set to begin at 8 a.m. at Zulu's facility on 730 N. Broad Street and finish at the sheriff's office on 2800 Perdido Street. A separate posting on the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office's own site had described an annual OPSO/Zulu 5K Walk-Run starting and ending at the Perdido Street headquarters at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 24, a scheduling detail that doesn't match the Halloween-weekend event WWL-TV reported — the discrepancy between the two accounts was not resolved in available reporting.
Organizers described the run as a chance for families to get some exercise, celebrate the holiday, and support local kids all at once, the station reported. Once racers cross the finish line, families will be invited to a trunk-or-treat where children can collect candy from decorated vehicles in a family-friendly setting.
A Safer Way to Trick-or-Treat
Orleans Parish Sheriff Michelle Woodfork said the daytime format was built with safety in mind. “We thought about what a way to give candy to the kids in a safe environment during the day where they don't have to go out at night,” she said, according to the station's report. Sheriff's office employees will decorate their trunks so kids can gather treats without waiting until after dark.
Woodfork also said the partnership reflects the department's broader push to build relationships with the community, crediting Zulu's influence in shaping how her office organizes public events. She noted she had made a promise to the organization at a previous Toys for Tots event to help raise more money for children's toys, and the 5K was part of following through on that pledge.
Zulu's Long-Running Toy Drive
Proceeds from the race are earmarked for Zulu's next Toys for Tots event, scheduled for Dec. 19, per the same account. Zulu representative Oscar Rainey said the Halloween run fits into a much larger pattern of year-round giving for the club. “What Zulu is about, other than just the Mardi Gras day, we do activities all throughout the year. One of the pillars in the organization is them giving to kids and giving back to the community,” Rainey said, as reported by WWL-TV.
Zulu's community involvement page states the organization is proud to continue its annual Toys for Tots Christmas event, through which it says it collects and distributes thousands of toys each year to children in its community, according to Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. The club has given away about 1,200 bicycles and more than 600 tables as part of that effort over the years, the organization says.
The partnership with Toys for Tots dates back to 2006, and the annual distribution has yielded thousands of toys for New Orleans families with the help of donations, according to My New Orleans. A previous edition of the toy distribution was held at 730 N. Broad Street, the same address tied to Zulu's facility in this year's 5K.
More Than a Mardi Gras Krewe
Zulu's community programming has stretched well beyond the holidays and Carnival season. The club's community involvement page notes that an Ochsner Health and Zulu-hosted Men's Health and Wellness Event drew 118 attendees and included 65 lung-capacity screenings, five of which led to follow-up medical referrals. Rainey pointed to that kind of year-round outreach as central to the club's identity, saying giving to children and the community remains one of its organizational pillars.
For now, the Halloween 5K stands as the newest addition to that lineup — the first 5K collaboration between a storied Carnival krewe and the parish's sheriff's office, built around getting kids candy, families moving, and toys under the tree come December.
