A Generous Donation from Spirit Halloween – Spirit of Children

Despite living in a pandemic, this past Halloween season was still able to take place in some communities as people came up with creative ways for children, teens and adults to take part in the traditional Halloween activities! Spirit Halloween stores provided families what they needed to still have a sense of normalcy.

Even with the constraints in place, the generous shoppers and vendors of Spirit Halloween were able to support Spirit of Children’s efforts so that their charitable donations are felt all year long at various children hospitals.

At a recent leadership video meeting, the Philadelphia Shriners Hospital received a donation of $60,921.35! The funds raised by Spirit Halloween stores in Philadelphia and the surrounding area support our child life department. Spirit of Children not only supports Shriners Hospitals for Children — Philadelphia, but they have helped many of the other locations in our system.

In addition to the donation, in October the Spirit of Children program adapted and donated care packages, which included costumes, activities and treat bags. In past years, Spirit Halloween volunteers hosted in-person celebrations. Even though it was a scaled down, socially distanced celebration, the patients and families were still able to enjoy Halloween while in the hospital.

“It has been great to build our relationship, which continues to grow each year. Our children are lucky to have such a wonderful experience through the Spirit of Children Campaign,” said Terry Diamond, director of development.

These seasonal efforts make hospitals less scary for kids and their families through the support of the child life departments at the program’s partner hospitals, which includes Shriners Hospitals for Children. Donations stay within local communities, and 100% of every dollar donated supports the partner hospitals’ child life departments.

Since 2007, Spirit of Children has donated nearly $7 million to the Shriners Hospitals for Children health care system. In 2020 alone, Spirit of Children raised $1,043,716.55 for 11 locations.