Southeastern Oklahoma State University hosted their annual Safe Trick-or-Treat event Oct. 28 on campus to bring the community together for Halloween and allow children a place to trick-or-treat safely.

The Safe Trick-or-Treat event has been going on for roughly twenty years, according to Jamey Keffer, a residence hall director on campus. Southeastern hosts the event outside of Shearer Hall to bring children to the campus and allow them to participate in Halloween festivities safely every year.

Mickayla Freeze, a resident assistant and junior at Southeastern, mentioned the importance of the event and why families attend. “It is good for them to feel like there is a safe place for their kids,” Freeze stated. Children from the community came to the event to dress up, meet college students and of course, get candy.

Families were also able to participate in the haunted house hosted by PLC in North Hall.

Students and faculty volunteered to help Housing and Residence Life host the event and ensure that it was safe.

Children and their families waited their turn in line to receive candy from Southeastern students. A fear parents may have this time of year is that the candy their children receive may be harmful. Parents feel safe knowing that the candy their children were receiving was from the university and safe to eat.

Keffer believes that Southeastern students are impacted by the event just as much as the families. “In many ways, helping students understand what volunteerism is is a huge function of the event,” Keffer stated.

Campus organizations such as PLC and the Savage Storm cheerleaders volunteered to hand out candy. Students were able to volunteer individually or with their organizations.

Keffer has participated in the event for the eleven years that she has worked for Southeastern. Keffer has worked for other universities in the past, but finds Southeastern’s service to the community impactful. “I’ve never seen an event that so directly serves the community,” said Keffer.

The university had a large turnout for the event. 802 people showed up for trick-or-treating and 601 for the haunted graveyard.

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