Story by Reeanna Lynn hernandez
Carved pumpkins, candy, costumes, college students and community involvement all set the scene for CCD’s annual Halloween Harvest.
The event, which was free and open to the public, took place Oct. 29 on the 9th Street Park lawn at Auraria. It provided a festive, fun and safe environment for parents to bring their children to “trick-or-treat”.
Haunted harvest is CCD Student Life’s largest community service project. It was made possible thanks to student involvement from not only CCD, but UCD and MSU Denver.
Students made the most of their volunteer time by decorating student organization houses with special Halloween themes. They also provided candy and games for the kids and dressed up in kid friendly costumes.
Other than giving children a secure place to trick-or-treat, Halloween Harvest helped bring together the broader community.
“The importance of having an event like this on our college campus is it brings everyone together,” said Kathryn Mahoney, student activities coordinator at CCD. “It is a way to reach out and give back to the community. The students have so much fun helping out. The kids are all so happy to be here and the parents are happy to have a safe place to take them.”
Haunted Harvest also allowed the diverse student population to connect to Auraria on a deeper level.
“On our campus we have so many non-traditional students,” said Sarah Johnson, a volunteer and member of the Honors Society at MSU Denver. “We have students who live off campus and students who are single, married or divorced with children. This event provides a great opportunity for them to feel more like they are a part of the community.”
The event included games for the kids, with prizes of candy and small toys.
Antonia Garza appreciated being able to have an event like this to bring her daughter to. She is also a volunteer and member of First Year Involvement at MSU Denver
“I don’t always have the opportunity to involve my life at home with my daughter to my life as a student,” Garza said. “Being able to bring her here and share this part of my life with here is really a great way to feel more in tune and connected to the campus community. And, my daughter loves it.”
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