Wharton students manage a safe Halloween

While trick-or-treating is something many children look forward to, in some areas of Philadelphia, the Halloween tradition might not be safe. The Caring People Alliance and Wharton Wolfpack — a Wharton School of Business Management 100 group — wanted to provide an alternative for West Philadelphia children and their families.

On Friday, these two groups ­— with the help of other volunteers — held the Fifth Annual Caring People Alliance’s Halloween Carnival at the West Philadelphia Community Center.

“We bring [the children] inside and we give them a safe place where they can still enjoy the holiday,” explained Junia Zhang, a Wharton freshmen and a member of the management group.

Last year, there were about 700 people in attendance and the event has grown throughout the years, as more people were expected this year. According to Center Director Bill Butler, Management 100students have been working on this project for four years.

“This group… we couldn’t have done it without them tonight,” Butler said about the Wharton students.

The Wharton Wolfpack helped to plan the activities that would occur during the Carnival — including a moon bounce, face painting and a haunted house. They also worked together to gather about 85 volunteers to work the event on Halloween weekend, an enormously popular weekend on campus. Penn-affiliated organizations such as the Marketing Undergraduates Student Establishment, Women’s Golf, service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and Gregory and Fisher-Hassenfield College Houses were all represented, as well as other Philadelphia schools and groups.

The volunteers were able to help out the community in an important way while bonding with fellow classmates.

“The best way to do service is to do it with your friends,” APO President and College of Arts and Sciences junior Joanna Pak said.

The goal of the Management group was to not only make the Halloween Carnival a success, but also to advertise and attract people to the West Philadelphia Community Center. The group worked together to create a Facebook page for the Center and handed out flyers in schools and different areas of the city.

“We felt our main focus was making sure that not only a lot of people come, but also that there is also a good amount of media coverage about what the community center offers,” said Osman Azami, a Wharton freshman and a member of the Management group.

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