As Halloween nears, kids’ minds are filled with exciting costume ideas for Halloween night. On the night of October 31, the streets are filled with witches, wizards, princesses, and superheroes. But what happens if you can’t afford to dress up for the holiday?

This year, the costume drive completed its fourth collection and donation of costumes. The drive, run by senior Jessie Cordwell with the assistance of Upper School Dean of Student life Christian Bielizna, donates the costumes to Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO), which are given to residents of the shelters.  

There are over 20,000 homeless children in Chicago, and CCO serves hundreds of kids and families living in homeless shelters across the city. Many of these children do not have access to Halloween costumes.

Created in 1989, CCO is a non-profit organization with the goal of raising the quality of life for those in need in the Uptown area. CCO has provided food, shelter, and other resources to help hundreds of individuals and families get back on their feet. CCO hosts the Fall Frenzy, a Halloween party where kids in the shelters can dress up in their Halloween costumes. After the party, families are able to keep the costumes to use for Trick-or-Treating on Halloween night.

In 2015, Parker parent Sarah Simberg decided to start a donation drive for used costumes after noticing the extra ones from her JK-age son. “I noticed we had several costumes on hand he had already grown out of,” Simberg said.  She brought together a group of friends, parents, Parker faculty, and CCO staff to create a donation drive that would provide costumes for kids in need.

Simberg had discovered CCO on a message board. “I noticed that they were having a Halloween party, and they did it every year,” Simberg said. “It was a big event and everybody loved it, and I was like ‘oh this would be perfect!’” That first year—with the help of Chicago Laboratory Schools, St. Josaphat School, and coworkers— Simberg was able to deliver over 250 costumes. “It was so rewarding,” Simberg said, “to have kids be kids and have them enjoy this small thing.” Donation boxes were located in the front alcove and near the lower school areas. This year, Parker was able to donate over 80 costumes to the children living at CCO shelters and attending the Fall Frenzy.

The costume drive has evolved to being student-coordinated. Bielizna asked for volunteers for the drive to lead, help out, and encourage others to donate. As the student organizer, Cordwell’s responsibilities include making the collection boxes and helping Bielizna organize the logistics. “I think often times we forget how fortunate we are to even be able to participate in something like Halloween,” Cordwell said, “and how easy it is for us to have access to things like houses to trick or treat at or costumes to wear.”

Another chance for student participation in the drive was to stand in Circle Drive in costume to promote the drive. “I think some people found it weird I was dressed as a doughnut all day,” freshman Katherine Holtz said “People asked me what it was for and it was a nice chance to tell people all about the drive.”