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Hundreds of Monsters and Princesses | |||||
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Sunday Friends’ Tenth Annual Halloween Event was our biggest yet –
by far! 331 precious children from 116
families received the costumes of their dreams on October 22. Counting the 127 proud parents and the 300 enthusiastic and
hardworking volunteers, the Lowell School Campus hosted about 750 people! You might have expected chaos, but instead the scene was just
plain happy. Volunteers escorted each
child one-on-one to pick out a special costume, try it on, get face-painted,
pose for a Polaroid photo and then make a fabulous Halloween-themed frame for
the photo.
As time went on, the grounds filled with scary monsters grinning
under their gory face paint, superheroes flexing their padded muscles, sparkly
princesses, fairies, mermaids and angels of all colors smiling shyly – and a
sprinkling of witches, furry animals, firefighters and Disney characters.
Halloween has always been as important to Sunday Friends as it is
to the children who yearn to enjoy it. We feel that all children
– especially those who have been forced to grow up too fast – deserve the opportunity to dress up and to pretend.
What great memories we'll all retain of this
day! Best of all, at the end of the day, the children took home everything they
will need for a happy Halloween - along with self-satisfaction.
The satisfaction came because the children and their parents
EARNED the costumes. They served food, cleaned the school grounds, decorated
for Halloween, wrote letters and more. It always feels
so good to contribute together as a community. This is the Sunday Friends way – on Halloween
and always. And, we enjoyed LOTS of Halloween-flavored fun together, too!
We ate food of many ethnicities. We concocted Magic Potions (Love Potion and Get
Rich Potion were the most popular this year). We played the game we had created
together: Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin. And we designed Dia de los Muertos
decorations, painted pumpkins and personalized trick-or-treat bags. I’m sure we saw 750 smiles by the end of the day.
Your contributions of costumes and funds made it all possible. You
brought joy and self-confidence to many children. Thanks from all of us in
Sunday Friends.
Special thanks to Lowell Elementary School and the
San Jose Unified School District for providing the facilities
and supporting all of Sunday Friends' programs!
Thanks to the following volunteer groups who
Alpha Phi Omega of San Jose State
Thanks to the following groups who
Aguirre Family Montessori School |
