Halloween costume giveaway returns to Lanett
BY JOHN BRICE
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LANETT — Families and children gathered outside Lanett City Hall on Saturday, Oct. 17, for a free Halloween costume giveaway organized by the Fuller Center and the Lanett Recreation Department.
District 5 Council Member Kim Roberts worked with Fuller Center Director Robin Pierre, Recreation Director Trent McCants and Team WHIP Director Narfunda Gibson Ross to host the event, which included free Halloween costumes, cotton candy, popcorn and pink lemonade.
“We have been doing this, the Fuller Center and the Recreation Department for the city of Lanett, have been coming together for years and blessing the children with costumes for Halloween for the trick-or-treat night,” Roberts said. “Again, we did it this year. Robin pulled all of the costumes together from the ReUse store. We had the cotton candy and the popcorn. Trent and recreation had the hot dogs. We had Narfunda come out with WHIP, and she provided pink lemonade today.”
Roberts said more than 175 costumes had been given away during the event.
“So far, we have given away over 175 costumes today,” Roberts said. “The smile on the faces means everything. You are literally giving them a happy day. That is what Robin enjoys — [what] I enjoy. The Fuller Center is about blessings. Today is what we consider a great blessing to the city of Lanett. We appreciate the mayor for letting us have it here at city hall. Such an open space and everybody is familiar with it. It was just a perfect place, a perfect day. The wind was blowing and [it was] a beautiful day.”
The annual event has been held for several years, and Roberts said this year’s turnout was the largest yet.
“This is the biggest one ever, and I think it will continue to grow,” she said. “People realize that Robin has put a lot of time and energy into preparing for this, and you can tell. We had all of the characters, Disney, scary characters for the guys. These costumes range anywhere from $15 to $30 so it is something that every parent couldn’t just go to the store and buy. With the Fuller Center, we have been so blessed by getting people to donate these costumes to us, and in return, we turn around and give them away.”
With rising costs putting pressure on household budgets, Roberts said the giveaway helps families make sure children can still enjoy Halloween.
“It lets the kids continue to be kids,” she said. “They can have the special day as always without stressing the parent out of, ‘I can’t afford to go and buy the costume this year.’ They will have their trick-or-treat costume and be ready to go, nothing has changed for the children. It is all about the kids, this is why it was so important for us to bless the children. They will get home from school that day, and they will be ready to put their costume on and be ready to go where their parents take them to go trick or treating.”
Roberts said she also hopes the event gives young people an opportunity to learn about serving others.
“I hope they realize that blessing others is where their blessings and their joy will come from,” she said. “If you notice today we had several of the basketball coaches and players out here. The basketball players were doing the cotton candy machine and running the popcorn machine. You teach them how to serve. I just want to let the community know that the Fuller Center and Lanett Recreation with Director Trent McCants, we love our kids and we really want to see more involvement with our city and our youth.”
