San Bernardino community steps up to help family put together Haunted House ahead of Halloween
A San Bernardino family forced to move their haunted house for the first time in its existence received some much needed assistance from the community ahead of Halloween.
After operating at the Cowan family residence for nearly 10 years, a series of complaints from neighbors led San Bernardino City Councilmembers to advise that the Caitlin Manor Haunted House move to a commercial location.
Without a spot in mind, and with little time on his hands, Augie Cowan reached out to the community and received more than he could have asked for.
"We were determined," he said.
He and his family have held the event for as long as they could remember in order to help cover the costs of his daughter Andrea's treatments for metachromatic leukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder and terminal illness that attacks the brain.
After finding a new location, at a strip mall on 648 W. 4th Street, Cowan and countless volunteers came together to put the elaborate haunted house together, with little time to spare.
"No one had a heart, to me, everyone just had an issue to push," said Robert Quintero, who reached out to several of his friends, who just so happened to be contractors. "They were from Perris, Riverside, Corona. They just heard the story, they wanted to come... they're my friends — they're real friends."
Cowan, Quintero and the newly-formed army of volunteers behind them, assisted by a bevy of donated supplies from local businesses, were able to construct the haunted house in six days, right on time for the week before Halloween.
For the Cowan family, who weeks ago had no answer to their looming issue, the help meant more than anything.
"The love that they show my family and my daughter is just really awesome," he said. "I can't thank everybody enough."
They're now open every night through Halloween from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., with some earlier "no scare" hours for the little ones.
This is the last year they plan on holding the event.