A Winnipeg girl is hoping to make Halloween a little sweeter for families as she collects costumes for kids who can’t afford them.
Callie Costello, 12, is asking Winnipeggers to donate their lightly used Halloween costumes so that no trick-or-treater gets left behind come October 31.
With the help of her mom, Crystal Costello, Callie has set up about 20 drop-off locations across town for her Costumes for Kids drive.
“It’s Halloween and there’s a lot of people who don’t have Halloween costumes, and that’s really, really sad, because … Halloween is about kids,” Callie Costello told CTV News.
Her mission is simple: “A lot of costumes. That’s my goal,” she said.
Callie’s efforts help shed light on the state of child poverty in Manitoba, where, in 2012, nearly 30 per cent of children lived below the poverty, according to a 2014 report by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.
Those figures mean that, come Halloween, plenty of kids simply can’t participate, one expert says.
“I think we have to remember that many children in Winnipeg and Manitoba are experiencing poverty, and that prevents a lot of kids from taking part in these larger societal experiences,” said Michael Champagne, founder of Aboriginal Youth Opportunities, an organization that helps First Nations youth.
It’s not the first time Callie has committed to helping others. In 2013 she started “Callie’s Backpacks,” a campaign to collect backpacks filled with snacks, toiletries and water for the homeless. In just six months Callie had backpacks for 185 people, and she continues to collect donations today.
“It makes me feel good to help people,” she said.
