[ad_1]
In just two weeks’ time, Bloomington’s cityscape will be haunted by spooky silhouettes going door-to-door seeking tasty treats. Adults are building up their candy arsenal and making final touches to their yard décor, readying for face-painted ghouls and 3- foot-tall witches to grace their doorsteps with bags in hand.
Halloween is a night of chills and thrills, where children can dress up as anything they’d like — whether that’s their favorite superhero or the scariest monster. As any child will tell you, a costume is vital to trick-or-treating, which is why one local couple is hosting a free costume pop-up shop to ensure no kid in Bloomington is left out.
Halloween 2022:Bloomington didn’t get a Spirit Halloween this year. Here’s where you can get costumes
On Halloween weekend, 500 costumes and accessories — spanning ages from newborn to 14 — will be available for families to borrow free at American Rental, 1416 Liberty Drive, from 4 to 6 pm Oct. 28-31. The costumes were either locally donated or newly purchased this year through Halloween Re-Imagined, a nonprofit organization operated by Shane and LeAnn Tanenbaum.
The shop’s costume repertoire is diverse and vast, including some from iconic franchises such as Marvel, Harry Potter, Frozen and Trolls. The store will also have an array of accessories — masks, wigs and make-up — so children can cobble together their own creation if they don’t gravitate toward a specific costume.
Children are expected to wear their costume during the Halloween weekend and return it to American Rental afterward, where the clothes will be cleaned, mended and stored for next year.
Through Halloween Re-Imagined, the Tanenbaums hope to start a yearly tradition where the community pools together its resources for a fantastical Halloween night.
“We’ve dedicated our lives to helping as many kiddos in our community as possible,” LeAnn said.
Bloomington couple’s nonprofit offers free Halloween costumes
One Halloween night, 8-year-old Shane Tanenbaum went trick-or-treating in the streets of Columbus, clad in an oversized Coca Cola sweatshirt. It was his mother’s, he later explained — a shirt he’d found in the back of her closet while he was desperately hunting for any semblance of a costume to go out in.
He shuffled along from house to house, surrounded by his peers dressed up as Power Rangers, GI Joes and Ninja Turtles. He didn’t want to stand out too much, but when a woman opened her door and fawned over the group, she asked what his costume was.
“I’m a Coca Cola deliveryman,” Shane replied.
Something about his answer made her nose upturn.
“That’s not a very good costume,” she’d told him. The door closed soon after. He remembers stiffly walking back to the street, fighting the urge to cry.
“I immediately started tearing up,” Shane said. “Of course, if she would have taken the time to look at me — my shoes were tattered, my face was probably dirty, my hair was over my eyes — you could tell I did not have money.”
That night about three decades ago stayed with Shane. The woman’s words had more impact than she likely realized.
“I’m glad that it happened because as I was walking home with tears in my eyes, I said, ‘Whenever I get older, I’m gonna make sure every kid has a Halloween costume,'” Shane said. “One of the best things that you can do is to be true to your younger self.”
Shane and his wife, LeAnn, have made his past self’s promise a reality.
In the years since, they’ve found small ways to give back to their community. While living in Shelbyville, the couple partnered with local school systems to hand out backpacks filled with hygienic and oral care products for children in need. Last year, they bought 50 Halloween costumes to give out in Shelbyville.
“We both come from very poor and somewhat abusive backgrounds, so we definitely know the gift of giving back and how much of an impact that can make on kiddos and how it takes something so small to really change the lives of kids that have little to nothing,” LeAnn said.
When they moved here this spring, Shane and LeAnn wanted to do a similar pop-up costume shop but Bloomington is a much bigger community. Not ones to shy away from a challenge, they decided to up their investment — rather than 50 costumes, they gathered 500. While some were donated by coworkers and friends, the couple bought many of the costumes.
“We sold anything that didn’t belong to our kiddo and wasn’t tied down to the floor,” LeAnn said, adding the couple sold their bed and even some of her jewelry for the project.
According to LeAnn, they want to be the people that she and Shane had needed when they were young. Halloween is an important time for children and their families, she said. It should not be a time of stress.
“The pandemic, inflation and all these things that have impacted our lives as an adult, we don’t always realize how that rolls down into our children and how they feel,” LeAnn said. “For one night, even if it’s just one night, these families can go out together without feeling the impact of their pocketbooks (and) without thinking that ‘providing a costume for my child means I can’t provide dinner for my child.’ They can go out and experience magic together and bond as a family.”
She and Shane hope their work serves as a spark of encouragement for others to contribute with their own good acts.
“Hopefully this positive experience can impact the children going forward and they can just continue this kindness,” LeAnn said. “One spark can become a bonfire.”
Free costumes to rent at American Rental on Halloween weekend
All costumes and accessories will be available on a first come, first served basis from 4 to 6 pm Oct. 28-31. Once they arrive at American Rental, Shane or LeAnn will help families find the sizes available for their children. They ask for the child to be present to pick out their costume. Each child will also receive a goodie bag to take with them.
The costumes should be returned to American Rental after Halloween so Halloween Re-Imagined can sanitize, repair and reuse them next year.
Rachel Smith covers Indiana University and student life for The Herald-Times. Reach her at rksmith@heraldt.com or on Twitter @RachelSmithNews.
[ad_2]
Source link