Photo Credit: Santa Rosa Police Department
After wildfires devastated entire neighborhoods in Northern California last month, the Santa Rosa Police Department wanted to make sure that local kids weren't going to miss out on Halloween. The department organized a huge costume giveaway for over a thousand children whose families' homes were damaged or destroyed.
Santa Rosa Sgt. Summer Black, says she used the police department's Facebook page to put out the word for the need for Halloween costumes, and it didn't take long for people to show up to police headquarters with costumes to donate.
"The response has been overwhelming. We were sent boxes and boxes of stuff from all over the country,: Santa Rosa Sgt. Summer Black told ABC News.
Massive bags of costumes and Halloween treats were forwarded to Santa Rosa. Police officers, firemen, Girl Scouts and plenty of volunteers were all on hand at the Santa Rosa Christian Church last Friday to help give away the costumes to children in need.
What an awesome night we had giving away costumes to the kids affected by the fires and other kids in need!
This was a truly amazing event that couldn't have taken place without all of the generous donations. We had a storage facility full of costumes yesterday and more delivered today. At the end of the afternoon, there was almost nothing left!
We hope everyone had fun and thank you to all of the volunteers and to the Santa Rosa Christian Church for hosting the event!
Police hope that the costume giveaway will help bring a sense of normalcy for children affected by the Bay Area wildfires. Schools in the area have begun reopening for the first time since the wildfires began last month.
Forty-two people were killed and more than 245,000 acres of land were burned by wildfires in Santa Rosa last month.