Lauren Hannani culture editor
Interact club members celebrated Halloween a little bit early, on Saturday, Oct. 28, when they volunteered at a Halloween-themed carnival designed for the children of those in the military.
Taking place at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, the carnival was held for hundreds of marines and their families who live on the marine base.
“The Marines always serve us, so this Camp Pendleton event was a way for us to serve them,” District Interact Representative Jamie Kim said. “Also, there are roughly 10,000 children living on the base, so this carnival gave them a chance to just have fun on Halloween.”
While Kim was in charge of taking photos and videos of the event, other club members helped to carry out activities like face paintings, pumpkin carvings, train rides and bounce houses.
“We were running the tattoo and face painting stations, so whenever a child wanted their face or hands painted, they came to our booth,” Interact Club Vice President Lital Peykar said. “They were so sweet…this one girl’s dad even said it was the calmest he’d seen her, and that she would never stay so still for him.”
For the club members, interacting with the kids and making sure they were having a fun time was one of the highlights of the event.
“There’s nothing quite like it…being able to meet [the kids] and make a child’s day,” Club President Samantha Boudaie said.
In fact, many of the kids were only able to dress up and enjoy Halloween on that day, which made the event more special for the volunteers.
“Around the base, there aren’t many places the children can go and trick or treat, so the carnival was a nice way for the kids to be able to celebrate the holiday,” Kim said.
Although this was only Interact’s first time volunteering at the base, they hope they were able to help the marines and their families make this year’s Halloween the best one yet.
“I loved seeing everyone so spirited and festive, and so many children and adults were able to dress up and receive candy from our booths,” Peykar said. “I understand that it may be hard for many of them to celebrate as a family some of the time, so it was fun to get everyone in the Halloween spirit and let the families enjoy themselves.”