Making Halloween happen for every child

Halloween is an exciting time for most children - running through the dark streets with friends, knocking on doors, getting free treats, and being someone else for one day a year.

And two local community volunteers believe it’s a day that should be available to any child who wants to participate, regardless of whether or not their family can afford a snazzy costume.

Leesah Patt and Peri Shaplow met over a post on the NextDoor social media app, quickly connected and after a short phone call, got to work to make their latest community effort a reality.

Their goal? Making Halloween happen for every child who wants. They are collecting used and new costumes in good condition to be distributed to kids in need for Halloween 2019.

Both women are passionate about helping their community through volunteer work, and they both sit on several boards of community organizations. Patt was recently featured in the Courier’s Left Hand Laurel column with her family for their extensive and generous work in the local community.

The women connected when Shaplow posted on NextDoor about collecting costumes, and after talking with her, Patt realized she’d wanted to start up something similar. The idea seemed a natural fit for both of them.

They’ve set their sights on collecting hundreds of costumes in the coming months. Additionally, they will be working on setting up pop-up shops that people can “shop” at throughout the community and working with local partners to host these events.

They are currently working on setting up donation centers throughout Boulder. If you want to start your own drive in your neighborhood or school, they will pick up gathered donations in Longmont, Boulder, Lafayette and surrounding areas. To connect with the effort, email [email protected]