Lending a Hand on Halloween
By Mileen Zarin, Contributing Writer
Amidst the pumpkin carving, costume planning and weekend celebrations, Santa Clara students still manage to find a way to give back to the community. Here at Santa Clara many students, clubs and organizations take it upon themselves to get involved all year.
The Christians in Action Club, which aims to practice the Christian faith through service opportunities both within and outside the Santa Clara community, worked with Campus Ministry to sponsor a Halloween Happy Hour last Friday.
"Halloween Happy Hour was a time of fellowship and service for Christians in Action," said club president Kiersten Sandvick. The club invited students of all backgrounds and religious beliefs, and gathered to decorate Halloween themed cards for children in need.
The residence halls have also been getting into the Halloween service spirit. This year, Sobrato Hall continued their tradition of teaming up with Santa Clara Community Action Program and HomeSafe, an organization that provides transitional housing for victims of domestic abuse and their families, to give children of the HomeSafe clients the opportunity to trick-or-treat throughout the Sobrato suites.
On Oct. 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sobrato residents dressed up and passed out candy to children, whose ages ranged from toddlers to teens. After the trick-or-treating portion of the program, the children joined Sobrato residents and representatives from SCAAP and HomeSafe for pizza and games.
"(This event) gives the kids a chance to have fun in a safe environment," said Hilda Gonzalez, SCAAP's HomeSafe program coordinator. "It also provides a fun way for the volunteers and the kids to interact."
Off-campus, the Delta Gamma sorority will host their annual haunted house on Oct. 27 from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., as part of their philanthropic work with the Delta Gamma Foundation's Service for Sight. Kids from St. Clare's Catholic School on Washington Street and Chandler Tripp, a San Jose-based school for visually impaired children, will come to the Delta Gamma haunted house for an afternoon filled with arts and crafts, games and a cupcake walk.
"We invite (Chandler Tripp's) visually impaired classroom and adapt our haunted house, activities and crafts to suit these students and their special needs," said Emily Espinosa, Delta Gamma's vice president and head of the chapter's philanthropic efforts. All of the haunted house's activities will have tactile elements. "The kids can reach into different boxes and touch 'brains' (spaghetti), 'eyeballs' (grapes), 'severed fingers' (carrots) and eventually candy," said Espinosa.
"All the girls in our sorority volunteer their time, and about 30 kids come through and giggle and scream," said Georgia Trakinat, a senior member of Delta Gamma. "It's fun!"
With midterms overwhelming many of us this time of year, it can be easy to overlook all of the ways to get involved both on and off campus during this Halloween season.
Whether it's through one of Santa Clara's faith-based clubs, one of the over 100 student-run organizations or through volunteering time with off-campus clubs, there are always many service opportunities at Santa Clara.
Contact Mileen Zarin at mzarin@scu.edu.