COSTA MESA : Food Bank Serves Up Halloween Fun
Three hundred wide-eyed youngsters wound their way Friday through a dark maze in which they were accosted by a woman with snakes for hair, a man whose head was trapped in a bird cage and a ghoulish dog, all there to give them a bit of a Halloween fright.
Led by 20 student volunteers, the youngsters also had a chance to touch witch eyeballs, monkey ears and zombie flesh--grapes, dried apricots and gelatin.
The setting was the haunted house at the Share Our Selves food bank and free clinic in Costa Mesa, a one-day event sponsored for the second year by a local chapter of the international collegiate service group Circle K. It includes students from Orange Coast College, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Golden West College and Whittier College.
“It’s great,” said Wanda Hunsaker, 25, of Costa Mesa, who learned of the haunted house when she brought her 3-year-old daughter, Samantha, to the center to pick up food.
Said 8-year-old Matthew, who lives with his family at a nearby shelter: “It’s cool.”
In addition, the youngsters took home bags of candy donated by local stores.
The Circle K volunteers also conduct beach cleanups and charity walks, said Sara Minor, 19, a student at Orange Coast College, but the haunted house is by far the most satisfying for her. “It’s gratifying to see the children when they are smiling,” she said.
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