Halloween in the Tenderloin delights for 10th year
Katie Garibaldi
Issue date: 11/17/05 Section: News
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Notre Dame celebrated its 10th year of participating in the Halloween in the Tenderloin program this Halloween.
Led by NDNU professor, Dr. Don Stannard-Friel, Halloween in the Tenderloin is part of a series of projects specifically focusing on the Tenderloin district in San Francisco.
The students in the Streetwise Sociology class work together as a team along with other groups to make Halloween in the Tenderloin happen. Those groups include the Playground for Children, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Police Department in the Tenderloin district.
Volunteers also participate to help with the project. On campus, the NDNU Social Action Club and Campus Ministry put up posters seeking volunteers. This year, 72 volunteers, including faculty, staff and students, turned out. Most of the students were from the Freshmen Human Experience courses and the Social Action Club.
Stannard-Friel said, "People in the Tenderloin are stunned by how enthusiastic NDNU students are. Everyone comes together and has a great time."
The students and volunteers dress in costume and set up a Halloween festival for the kids in the Tenderloin by decorating the playground. This year, about 400-500 kids came to the festival to play games and win prizes. Twenty-four activities like jump houses, face painting and games for the kids were set up.
The police organized food so all the kids got to eat free. DJ Milan Irvin came from campus to provide music, along with a KMEL DJ. About $1,500 was received in donations, along with donated pumpkins, candy and prizes to make the festival happen.
Karla Sagastume, a junior at NDNU, was in charge of donations for toys and also helped with the game tables at the festival. Fagaspume said she participated in Halloween in the Tenderloin her freshmen year as well.
"If you go once, you want to go back. I really enjoyed myself because there's nothing like seeing a smile on a child's face."
When the festival, which lasts about three and a half hours, is over, the kids are given bags and candy to go trick-or-treating.
The volunteers find 50 safe places for kids to trick-or-treat in the area. They make maps for the kids and also decorate the safe houses with posters and balloons to make it easy for the kids to find.
Members of the Notre Dame AmeriCorp also helped with the festivities. Stephanie Cho was one of the 10 AmeriCorp members who participated in the festival this year.
Cho said she had previously gone to Halloween in the Tenderloin twice as a student at NDNU. This year, she helped with the games and set up balloons in the neighborhoods at the safe places. She said it was a good experience and would recommend it to others.
"It's a great way to meet students and you get to meet a lot of those kids in the Tenderloin."
Cho said she also got to meet a lot of the freshmen in the Human Experience classes. "They were really helpful and excited. It was nice to see new faces and old faces. It was a good turnout and a lot of fun."
With 4,000 kids living in the Tenderloin district, full of poverty and crime, Stannard-Friel said the Halloween in the Tenderloin program has proved to be a wonderful experience for everyone involved. The program seems to be getting more and more successful.
Stannard-Friel said, "This year has been the most successful. Every year seems to be better than the last."