The Center for Service and Social Justice hosted a Safe Trick-or-Treat event on campus for local children and their families Oct. 14.

The event ran from 1 to 3 p.m. and gave about 200 underserved children from the Scranton community the opportunity to trick-or-treat safely at various residence halls.

The children dressed up as super- heroes, princesses, video game char- acters and even McDonald’s mascot Grimace. Over 50 student volunteers guided the children and their fami- lies throughout the campus. Twenty resident assistants and their residents volunteered to give out candy in their residence halls.

The families of the children are clients of Friends of the Poor, Head Start preschools, Outreach Center for Community Resources, United Neighborhood Centers and the Cath- erine McAuley Center. These orga- nizations are community partners of The University of Scranton.

Ellen Judge, outreach program co-

ordinator for CSSJ, said the event has a positive impact on the Scranton and university community.

“Our community, both our com- munity partners and our university family, appreciate having a safe and fun experience for their children to enjoy this holiday on campus,” she said.

Over 200 volunteers from 28 clubs set up tables in the Byron Recreation Complex with games, activities and candy prizes for the children to enjoy after trick-or-treating. The activities included face painting, arts and crafts and games like tic-tac-toe with plush pumpkins and an “eyeball” toss with ping-pong balls.

Junior Grace Nitowski, president of the University’s a cappella club, Men and Women for Octaves, said she and her fellow club members enjoyed serving the community at the event, and they plan to volunteer again in the future.

“Safe Trick or Treat was a great ex- perience for our club. It was very well organized and I felt like (it) had a ma- jor impact on the Scranton communi-

ty. ... We will absolutely be participat- ing in this each year,” Nitowski said.

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