TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Tucson mom's simple act of kindness turned into a community-wide Halloween costume drive that helped more than 100 kids dress-up for the holiday.
Abby Splittstoesser, founder of Para Todos, started with about 40 costumes to give away for free.
After KGUN 9 shared her story, Splittstoesser wasn't prepared for what would happen next.
Within hours of the story airing, she received about 60 messages from people asking not only for costumes, but where they could drop off their old ones.
She says she was able to give more because the community stepped up and donated costumes to help spread the Halloween magic.
The demand was so high that she set up at Rudy Garcia Park, once known as Rodeo Park, from Wednesday through Friday to distribute costumes.
"We had at least 10 donations, or 10 people donating and it was a total of like 15 garbage bags full," Splittstoesser said. "And out of all of that, since Monday, we gave over 120 costumes to over 40 families."
Splittstoesser said some children were able to get the exact costume they wanted. One woman even went shopping specifically for sizes that were missing to fill in the gap.
Splittstoesser says the community came through and made a difference for so many families.
"It's not so much about one person or one organization. It's just about coming together and supporting each other. A lot of us are having financial hardships, the holidays are coming up. It could be a really hard time for parents and we just need to be here to support each other," Splittstoesser said.
If you would like to donate this year's Halloween costumes for next year's closet, reach out to Splittstoesser on her Para Todos page.
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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