For children without homes, holidays can be a difficult time. But on Friday, homeless children from Oklahoma City had a chance to enjoy Halloween by donning costumes and going trick-or-treating through the labs of OMRF.
Through Positive Tomorrows, an Oklahoma City nonprofit dedicated to educating homeless children, about 35 goblins, football players and princesses collected treats from OMRF scientists and staff members. The event has become an annual tradition at OMRF, which hosted the elementary school children for the fourth straight year.
“There’s no trick for us,” said Janis Perrault, vice president of human resources at OMRF. “It’s always a treat to welcome Positive Tomorrows into the building. They get a safe, friendly place to show off their Halloween costumes and we get to talk with them and hand out candy.”
Positive Tomorrows provides free and private education that addresses the special needs of homeless students from kindergarten through the fifth grade. Each year, the students sport new costumes designed and put together by theater students at Oklahoma City University.
In addition to trick-or-treating, OMRF also provided a party with games and activities for the children, including “Pass the Pumpkin” and bingo.
“Homeless children are left out of a lot of ‘normal’ activities, including Halloween,” said Positive Tomorrows volunteer coordinator Sandy Thomas. “OMRF provides a nurturing environment where they can have fun, go door to door and get candy, like other children their age. And while the candy is nice, for most of them, the real treat is wearing fun costumes and seeing all the smiling faces greeting them.”
