Spirit Halloween raising funds for Shriners Children's Northern California hospital

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Spirit Halloween is raising funds for Shriners Children's Northern California hospital throughout the month of October. ABC10's Mark S. Allen spoke with Alan Anderson, the Director of Philanthropy for the hospital, to learn more about the charitable act.

HERE ARE 3 THINGS TO KNOW: 

1. The donations are going through Spirit Halloween's Spirit of Children program. The charity program was created in 2006. Since its creation, the program's goal has always been to make hospital stays feel less intimidating for children.
   
   "Here in a hospital, no one wants to miss Halloween," Anderson explained. "The Spirit of Children brings Halloween to them and we have a huge party for that."
   
   
2. Spirit Halloween has raised over $770,000 for Shriners Children's Northern California.
   
   "Last year, it was a little over $100,000," according to Anderson. "They've raised $771,000 for our hospital and throughout the Central Valley, they've raised $2 million for child life programs."
   
   
3. Spirit Halloween also donated costumes to the patients at Shriners Children's Northern California.
   
   "Spirit Halloween was here with free costumes for the kids and they raised money for us for our music therapy program," said Anderson. "If you were here for a rehab appointment, after that you got to come in and get a free costume. If you were upstairs, done with what you need to do, you came down and you got a free costume. You got to pick the one that spoke to you."

CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF:

• Web: Spirit of Children program
• Location: Shriners Children's Northern California, 2425 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817

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