About 900 costumed children rampaged through Norris University Center on Thursday afternoon, clutching bags of candy and pushing to jump in the 15-foot pumpkin-shaped moon bounce located in the Louis Room as part of Northwestern Community Development Corps’ annual Project Pumpkin.
Led in small groups by costumed NU students, the children ranged from 4 to 12 years old and generally hailed from areas where it would not be safe for them to trick-or-treat on their own. NCDC sent out invitations for Project Pumpkin to all local elementary schools as well as to community groups in both Evanston and Chicago who currently work with the service organization.
Transportation to and from Norris was provided by NCDC for all participating nonprofit organizations, which included the Robert Crown Community Center, 1701 Main St., and the McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove St. Several NU faculty and staff also brought their children to participate in the activities.
“Project Pumpkin is an opportunity for students within Chicago and Evanston to have a fun and unique Halloween experience and to do so in a way that students have a chance to visit the campus and see what it’s like to be at the University,” said Medill junior Sara Fletcher, NCDC’s campus outreach co-chair.
The event began at 4 p.m. with trick-or-treating around Norris and continued until 7 p.m. with arts and crafts, games and a haunted house. Participating students from Greek organizations and student groups acted as chaperones and ran booths. This year, more than 60 student groups participated in the event, and dozens of NU students could be found in costume.
“Project Pumpkin is always hectic, but it always turns out well in the end,” said NCDC Co-chair Kristen Cragwall, a Communication senior. “It is NCDC’s biggest service project event of the year, and it’s such as blast to see all the children having so much fun.”
This year’s organizers ran into a problem when roughly an hour into the event the activity booths ran out of candy. Although NCDC spent nearly $1,100 on Halloween candy to stock the tables at the event, organizers had to leave Norris to buy more.
“(Participation) has been steadily increasing,” said NCDC Co-chair Sharanya Jaidev, a Weinberg senior. “This year we have a little less turnout probably because of the swine flu concern…(but) it’s always very popular.”
Project Pumpkin began in the late 1980s and aims to help bridge the gap between the NU, Evanston and Chicago communities. Two years ago, the group extended the activities to three hours in order to maximize attwendance and avoid long lines at the activities.
“It’s getting better every year,” said Natalie Furlett, who advises NCDC as the coordinator of Student Community Service at the Center for Student Involvement. “It’s really a great experience for the kids and the college students. It’s one of my favorite days of the year.”[email protected]
