Sophomore Nathalie Gaona puts on a bowtie and glasses, picks up an orange collection box, and drives to Town Park. When she gets there, she spots her friends at a table, all dressed up and all with boxes. After a short social with drinks and snacks, they split up into groups and head to nearby neighborhoods where they go door-to-door asking for change to put in their boxes. Halloween came early this year for Key Club.
“[Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF] really brings our club together, and we don’t do that many events where we’re all there,” Gaona said.
On Oct. 29, members trick-or-treated for donations instead of candy. People were asked for spare change to give to UNICEF, with all of the proceeds going to support The Eliminate Project, an initiative which strives to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in the world. The painful disease is caused by infection, oftentimes from unclean deliveries and improper umbilical cord care. Each box members filled earned them half an hour of community service.
“I think anything’s really helpful,” Gaona said. “Like it says on the back of the box, even a dollar eighty can save lives.”
While some groups proved successful, one house donated a $20 check, Gaona’s group received a meager amount of change and a lot of rejection. They encountered some interesting characters, with one man greeting a group in only his tighty whities and another jokingly mistaking them for soliciting money for marijuana.
“A lot of people were like ‘Oh you’re early, it’s not Halloween, why are you guys in costumes’,” Gaona said.
Despite Gaona’s personal lack of luck, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF turned out to be a success for Key Club she says.
“I hope I can go to the event the next two years that I am here,” Gaona said. “I think it’s really important for our Key Club to grow and become a better club, and raising more money for UNICEF is one of the many ways we can do that.”
