The Kerrey Hall lobby had no seating to spare bright and early on Saturday, October 20, as vibrant orange jack o’lantern baskets and the familiar superhero costumes filled the room. The residence hall invited children from Homes for the Homeless to trick or treat, knocking on the residents doors.
Organized by RAs Vivian Carpintero, 20, and Devin Alvarez, 18, the former wanted to organize an event centered around making care packages for the homeless, but said, “Having an organization attached to a program like this makes it much easier to arrange it.”
The five children that were able to visit — one dressed as Spider-Man, another as Harley Quinn, and the rest in their regular clothing — along with the staff of Homes for the Homeless, gathered in the Kerrey Hall lobby at 11 a.m. After the RAs finalized the list of residents that signed up to participate in giving out candy, the group of trick or treaters headed up to the eighth floor to start knocking on the 25 rooms in the residence hall.
Once the group entered a new floor, Carpintero would lead them towards the promised treats held by residents, such as Natalie Gologorsky, a 21 year old sociology major at NSSR. Gologorsky heard about the event at her floor meeting, led by Carpintero. She wanted to get involved in the event because she had worked with kids in the past. “I love the holiday and seeing happy faces, so this was definitely something I wanted to participate in,” she said.
Alvarez and Carpintero spread the word about the event through emails and posters, and any Kerrey resident was invited to participate. Residents who could not afford to purchase treats were given candy to pass out to the trick or treaters.
As Carpintero started to reach out to organizations to partner with her for her program, she came in contact with Tierra Gunther, 27, the partnership associate at Homes for the Homeless. Gunther coordinates donations and volunteer opportunities for schools throughout New York City. “It’s hard for parents to bring their children out because they reside in our Bronx location,” she said, while photographing the kids shouting, “Trick or treat,” as Kerrey Hall residents opened their doors.
Most residents expected 10 to 16 trick or treaters, so the group of five kids made out with a lot of extra treats. Gologorsky realized that there were no more kids to pass out sweets to, so she caught up with them to pass out what she had left, and decided to join them as they finished knocking on the last few rooms because they had left her own floor.
The morning ended with a pizza party in the lower lounge of the residence hall as the child dressed as Spider-Man reached into his bag to grab a Hershey bar. By the end of the program, the trick or treaters left with a full bag of candy, some even left with two. “Not a lot of our kids get to experience this during the holiday, so it’s great for schools to do this,” said Gunther.
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Illustration by Christine Evans