2024 Halloween Costume Event features personal shopping experience
By Kurt Greenbaum
Welcome Neighbor STL is hosting its annual Halloween costume event for refugee children on Oct. 19. The event — organized by the teen volunteers of the St. Louis Teens Aid Refugees Today (START) program — provides a memorable Halloween experience for refugee children who may not be familiar with the holiday or have the opportunity to celebrate it otherwise.
This year, the event will create a “personal shopping” experience as teen volunteers guide children through the costume inventory, helping them make their choices, according to Ann Wittman, START program director. Costumes will be organized by gender and age group to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for all.
Following the costume selection, children can visit a craft station where they can decorate their own trick-or-treat bags.
Around 25 teenagers from START will help with the event, assisting an expected 100 refugee children. The event is popular because many of the children “really don’t get to get out and have fun very often,” Wittman said. For these kids, Halloween is a chance to experience an American holiday, dress up for school events, and go somewhere to get candy.
“It’s a fun thing for them to come get the costume,” Wittman said. “They get to choose what they want, and then it’s fun for them to know they’re going to get dressed up for school.”
The event runs from 10 a.m. to noon in the parish hall on the St. John the Baptist campus, 4200 Delor St., St. Louis, 63116. And there are still ways for volunteers to help.
- Teen volunteers can sign up to be personal shoppers and to help children make trick or treat bags.
- Anyone can donate costumes. Consider purchasing them from this Amazon shopping list and shipping them to Welcome Neighbor, 4170 Delor St., St. Louis, MO, 63116.
- Donors can also drop costumes off at one of the Donut Palace locations: 37 Clarkson Road, Ellisville, 63011; or 3751 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Sunset Hills, 63127.
This is the third year Welcome Neighbor has hosted the Halloween costume event. The organization, established in 2016, has assisted over 600 refugees from 11 countries through various programs.
“We’re getting better at it every year,” Wittman said. “And it’s entirely run by our teens. They went out to all their schools and had signs and baskets at their entrance doors to collect costumes. It’s a very popular holiday that the children don’t have in their home country.”
