Project Pumpkin, an annual event sponsored by the Wake Forest University Volunteer Service Corps, will bring more than 1,200 disadvantaged children to campus for an afternoon of Halloween fun Thursday, Oct. 30, from 3-6 p.m.
Costumed student volunteers will escort each child through residence halls for trick-or-treating. Student organizations will sponsor carnival booths, face-painting, step shows, haunted houses and other entertainment.
Nearly 1,500 Wake Forest students will help with Project Pumpkin. The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs, the Experiment in Self-Reliance, the Downtown Church Center and the Winston-Salem Housing Authority are among the agencies that will bring children to the event.
“The purpose underlying our continued efforts is to provide a safe and fun alternative for trick-or-treating, and in the process, unite the Wake Forest community in a day of service,” says senior Erin Graves, spokeswoman for Project Pumpkin.
Food Lion will again donate more than 70,000 pieces of candy for the event.
Started in 1989 by a student, Project Pumpkin is one of several activities of the university’s Volunteer Service Corps, which regularly serves more than 35 community agencies. In addition to the day’s festivities, Project Pumpkin volunteers will visit participating agencies throughout the month of October. The “agency plunges” allow students to interact more with the children before they arrive on campus and encourages volunteerism beyond the one-day event.
Headlines
Wake Forest in the News
Wake Forest regularly appears in media outlets around the world.