Grand Ave. Businesses Giving Back With Boo Bash
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- October is a slower time of year for giving to charity and the Grand Avenue Business Association is hoping to change that this year. A group of businesses in St. Paul wants you to think about giving back.
Businesses in the neighborhood are raising money for Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in an event called "Grand Avenue Scares for Kids," which goes along with this year's Boo Bash. That event is Saturday, but the giving has already started.
When it comes down to it, Halloween is about the kids. They get the good costumes and then they get all the candy.
"Kids already get so many awesome treats and fun things with trick or treating on their own, and this year we've decided to give back to Children's," said Sue Evens, executive director of the Grand Avenue Business Association.
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota provided more than $50 million for families last year, and the need is growing. That's why this week Grand Avenue Business Association is giving back.
"When we heard about it, we were like, 'Absolutely we're going to participate,'" said Christine Shyne, director of Audience Relations at Stepping Stone Theater, which is putting on a toy drive. "We want to support the community. We want to help the people around us and we have a pretty unique opportunity to gather people here in a larger sense so they can help."
Certain stores along Grand will also be donating a percentage of their sales during Boo Bash.
"We need support all year-round," said Kiirsten Preble with the Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Foundation. "We tend to get a lot of donations around December. This is an opportunity to give back at another time."
It's money that helps pay for hospital bills, or a room for the family, as well as cancer research.
"It's really all about the kids. It's about kids coming down here and having fun with their parents at the shops and restaurants and having a great day," said Evens. "And then it really comes back to the children at Children's Hospital as well."
In all, 35 stores here on Grand Avenue are involved. Many of them are offering deals.
