Costume Drive Satisfies, But Leaves Representatives Wanting More
Caroline Lee
Staff Writer
In a Halloween Costume Drive, Students Unified for the Representation of FUSD Board of Education (SURF Board E) encouraged Fremont students to give to those in need.
Surf Board E, a group of fifteen students, three from each Fremont high school, acts as “the liaison between the district and the students,” senior and SURF Board E member Rosemond Ho said. From October 7 to October 24, in accordance with Make A Difference Day, the group decided to set up collection locations at each high school, asking students to donate outgrown or unwanted costumes to aid the Alameda County Foster Parents Association (ACFPA).
“We decided we wanted foster children to have a fun-filled Halloween,” Ho said. “They don’t have family and parents to buy them costumes.”
AHS students, some with personal connections to the cause, responded to the request, ready to contribute.
“I donated costumes that my brother and I have worn in previous years and we have now outgrown,” sophomore and SURF Board E member Tara Habibi said. “They were still in really great condition and we were happy to be able to give them to people who would make good use of them. The costumes go to foster children all around Fremont, and having been friends with a foster child before, I know that sometimes things like these are not available for them.”
Though the event did face its own challenges and setbacks, conflicting with Spirit Week and not receiving the attention its organizers wanted, Ho and Habibi called it a success.
“I think that there definitely could have been more publicity, but the Facebook event page and flyers spread the word well enough that people were approaching me, asking for more information and looking for the donation bin,” Habibi said.
With their positive outlook on this year’s experience, the AHS representatives look forward to doing this again next year.
“We’re planning on doing it again, working out the kinks, and maybe implementing it in Spirit Week points,” Ho said. “There’s always room for improvement.”
At the end of the drive, AHS contributed approximately seventy costumes. SURF Board E representatives have donated thirty of them to the organization’s director and are still awaiting the delivery of the other forty.
“Even though the kids got the costumes after the official day, the response was the same, ACFPA President Gwen McWilliams said. “Our children so often feel forgotten by much of the world, but your [AHS’s] thoughtfulness reminded them that they are not forgotten, and that they are special to all of you at American High School. We will forever be grateful for your spirit of giving.”
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