A Halloween costume celebration at Brandon University will pay it forward to a future holiday.
The “Halloween Howl” event will take place at BU’s Harvest Hall on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 2–4 p.m. People of all ages are welcome to don their Halloween costume and stop by to enjoy a hot dog, drink, and bag of chips for a $5 donation. There will be prizes for best costumes in three different age categories as well as a prize for best carved pumpkin. There will be free candy available for all contestants in the pumpkin-carving contest as well as for those who show up in costume. There will be an opportunity for pumpkin carvers to take a picture of their creations and post them online.
Proceeds from the Halloween Howl will go toward the Westman and Area Traditional Christmas Dinner. Since 1985 The Traditional Christmas Dinner has been offering fellowship and a meal on Christmas Day to those who may otherwise go without.
The Halloween Howl is the first of several planned events where the Westman and Area Traditional Christmas Dinner will join forces with the Helping Hands Centre of Brandon, with the two organizations sharing the same purpose
“We’ve always had a symbiotic relationship with the Traditional Christmas Dinner, so it only makes sense that we become official partners in providing a warm atmosphere and a good meal to the people of Brandon and Westman on Christmas Day,” said Helping Hands Chairperson Andrea Epp. “We are very excited about the new partnership and look forward to what our groups can accomplish together.”
Though Helping Hands and the Traditional Christmas Dinner have intermixed on a volunteer level, this is the first year the two organizations have officially joined forces for this great cause.
“This going to be such a great relationship not only for both organizations but also for the community as well,” said Gladden Smith, a community advocate who has spearheaded the Traditional Christmas Dinner for the past 35 years.
The next event these two organizations will team up for is the toy drive collection booth that will be set up at Brandon’s Wal Mart location in the Corral Centre. The two organizations will be set up Nov. 17–19 and Nov. 24–26 as well as Dec. 2–3 and Dec. 9–10 inside of the main entrance of Wal Mart where they’ll be accepting donations of new unwrapped toys as well as food and cash donations for Helping Hands as well as The Traditional Christmas Dinner.
