Community agencies bring children to Wake Forest for Halloween fun

Project Pumpkin, an annual event sponsored by the Wake Forest University Volunteer Service Corps, will bring nearly 1,200 children from about 35 community agencies to the Wake Forest campus for an afternoon of Halloween fun Oct. 25 from 3-6 p.m.

Costumed student volunteers will escort children through residence halls for trick-or-treating. Student organizations will sponsor carnival booths, face painting, haunted houses and other entertainment. The Wake Forest Football Team will sing the university’s fight song. Clowns will entertain the children with balloon animals and juggling. The physics and chemistry departments will host “mad scientist” shows during the afternoon. Several campus singing groups will also perform. Most events will take place between Wait Chapel and Reynolda Hall.

More than 1,500 Wake Forest students will help with Project Pumpkin, now in its 13th year. In the past, more than 35 social service agencies have participated, including the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem and Hispanic Outreach.

“Project Pumpkin is such a unique opportunity for this campus,” said senior Genevieve Heckman, who is chairing the event. “Not only does it give local disadvantaged children a safe environment in which they can celebrate the Halloween season, but it also gives Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff the chance to come together and reach out to the Winston-Salem community.”

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 sponsored by the university’s Volunteer Service Corps, which regularly serves the community. Project Pumpkin volunteers visited participating agencies throughout the month of October. Called “agency plunges,” the visits allow students to interact more with the children before they arrive on campus and encourage volunteerism beyond the one-day event.