TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Tucson woman is making sure every child can experience the magic of Halloween, regardless of their family's financial situation.
What started as an idea has now come to fruition.
Abby Splittstoesser started her grassroots mutual aid organization Para Todos meaning "for all," after seeing social media posts from parents struggling to afford Halloween costumes for their children last year.
She took action and started to collect and thrift costumes throughout the year, building an inventory of about 40 different options ranging from size 3T to youth XXL. Now, she's giving away those costumes for free to families in need.
"The idea behind it is to connect families really anywhere in Southern Arizona, but I'm focusing, honing in on South of Tucson because we're lacking in a lot of services and family programs down here," Splittstoesser said.
Her collection includes everything from fairy wings, princesses, to Top Gun pilot uniforms, Ninja Turtle outfits, Sonic the Hedgehog, and so much more.
"Parents can focus on their bills that they gotta pay and then hopefully we can fill in the gaps as a community," Splittstoesser said. "You know, not just me as like starting an organization, but just being able to connect people and we provide for each other that way."
According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending hit a record $13.1 billion this year, with $1.4 billion spent specifically on children's costumes.
Splittstoesser says she can deliver costumes directly to families living on Tucson's Southside. One mother, Rea Rollins, was even willing to ride the bus to pick up a gorilla costume for her 9-year-old daughter, but Splittstoesser brought it to her instead.
"Just shows the sacrifice that parents are willing to go," Splittstoesser said.
Rollins said via text, "It really blessed my heart because being a single mom I often have to juggle between rent and food, or smaller bills and presents/clothes. I'm thankful for local organizations that help our community."
Seven families have already selected costumes from her collection, and some have even donated their kid's outgrown costumes back to the organization.
Para Todos is not a 501(c)(3) organization. She says her plan is to make it an LLC.
"A few things that I'm looking at doing in the near future are going to be monthly birthday parties," Splittstoesser said. "And again this is another need that I've seen on social media — parents not being able to get kids to come to their kids birthday parties."
She said any kid who has a birthday in that month is invited to be celebrated.
"And then having a wide circle of people so that there's always other kids there and they don't have to feel like, oh nobody showed out for me today." Splittstoesser continued. "They always say it takes a village but a lot of people don't have a village nowadays. So I'm trying to encourage people, get to know your neighbors."
With a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old at home, Splittstoesser hopes to pass along the value of generosity from an early age.
"That if we have more than we need, we give it to other people," Splittstoesser said.
If you would like to see what costumes are still available, you can visit Para Todos Facebook page and contact Splittstoesser.
Looking for places to trick-or-treat? Click the link below.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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