ATLANTIC CITY — More than 700 members of the Atlantic City community, along with local nonprofits, organizations and volunteers displaying their spookiest decorated trunks filled with sweet treats and giveaways for the children, gathered at Atlantic Cape’s Charles D. Worthington Atlantic City campus for an afternoon pre-Halloween holiday Trunk or Treat event on October 10.
It was day for bringing people together, not just to hand out candy, but to provide the neighborhood with fellowship that only friendship and kindness can bring while also offering hope and assistance to those in-need. There were free pumpkins for decorating; a petting zoo with young goats and rabbits; face painters; free popcorn, hot and cold beverages, apples, snacks and games; free resource information for families and live music by DJ Jack Fahey.
“We are so happy to see so many people from throughout our neighborhoods come out and enjoy themselves today. It’s important that we help foster a sense of community and through events such as these we are able to bring our residents together with local groups looking to make a positive difference,” said Atlantic City campus Director Lizbeth Castro.
As youngsters, dressed as their favorite cartoon and video game characters, superheroes, witches, ghosts and goblins, paraded from trunk to trunk in search of handfuls of tasty chocolates and other sugary delights, their parents enjoyed this gathering for their kids and their community.
Shikeia Green, a 2019 alumna of Atlantic Cape, employee at AtlantiCare and lifelong Atlantic City resident, brought her son, King, to the event to enjoy the camaraderie that only a community event such as this can give.
“This is an important event to come out to because I am a community advocate and I enjoy all of the events that Atlantic Cape does for the community. My job at AtlantiCare also partners with Atlantic Cape through the Midtown CDC with events here,” said Green. “It’s great to see many familiar faces and local officers who recognized my son and as soon as they saw him they said ‘hey, King, what’s up?’ It’s nice because we need more things for the community and for the kids because we don’t have a lot of things for our children and for families.”
City resident Monae Butcher agreed.
“Things like these events are needed. I feel like these days there isn’t much going on in the neighborhoods for Halloween, so this is really good for the kids. I appreciate it. I was able to bring my son right after school, it was perfect timing,” said Butcher.
Representatives from AtlantiCare and the Midtown Community Development Corporation (CDC) showed their support for the City, its neighborhoods and residents by providing information on free community resources and goodies for the kids.
“It’s so nice that we are bringing this event to the community because they really need it. We are always here trying to help the community and connect them to resources. It’s so important to connect individuals to health and wellness, to primary care and to community services and just doing outreach to keep people healthy,” said Maribel Maldonado, community engagement specialist, AtlantiCare.
“This event is building positive community engagement for the residents of Atlantic City,” said Katie Bosworth, community engagement specialist, Midtown CDC, which recently held a home buying workshop for residents and has a financial workshop planned for November, along with bi-weekly community cleanups and more scheduled.
This year’s Trunk or Treat was hosted by Atlantic Cape, Midtown CDC, AtlantiCare, Angels in Motion and the Family Empowerment Association.
Visit atlanticcape.edu/atlanticcity for information on academic programs and resources offered at Atlantic Cape’s Worthington Atlantic City campus.
About Atlantic Cape Community College
Atlantic Cape Community College is a Middle States accredited, 2022 Achieving the Dream Leader College and Hispanic Serving Institution proudly serving the residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties. As a comprehensive, two-year community college, Atlantic Cape offers 47 undergraduate degree programs, and 34 certificate and professional series programs at its Mays Landing, Atlantic City and Cape May County campuses. Atlantic Cape is home to the renowned Academy of Culinary Arts, rated the top culinary school in New Jersey, and for more than 50 years, our highly-acclaimed Nursing program. Atlantic Cape also partners with more than 30 colleges and four-year universities to offer students the opportunity to seamlessly earn a bachelor’s degree upon graduation.
