A quarter-century of making Halloween safe and fun | The Homepage

How one Hazelwood family and many friends made Safe Halloween an annual tradition

By Cassandra Harris

Ursula Craig (left) and Jim McLaughlin giving out treat bags during Safe Halloween in 2022. In June, Mr. McLaughlin honored Ms. Craig for her 25 years supporting the event. Photo by Juliet Martinez

This year, Hazelwood Initiative marks its 25th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, The Homepage is featuring stories of the organization’s history as told by those who were there.

When Jim McLaughlin and his late wife, Joan, saw that people were too afraid to open their doors to pass out candy on Halloween, they knew they had to do something to make sure the children of Hazelwood still got their fill of sweets.

The McLaughlins brainstormed the idea for Safe Halloween and first started the event in 1999. The couple raised $4,520 in the event’s first year, secured a Weed and Seed grant and acquired other donations like kids’ meal coupons from Chick-fil-A and Red-Robin.

When they first started, his late wife planned to run the event every year, so she ordered 10,000 sealable plastic bags with the words “Hazelwood Initiative Safe Halloween” printed on the front. For the first several years, they filled 425 bags each Halloween.

Not only did Joan McLaughlin run Safe Halloween, but she was responsible for Hazelwood Initiative’s fundraising efforts during her time on the board of directors.

He recalled one of the first fundraisers he and Joan held at the old Kaufmann building Downtown, where Target, Five Below and Burlington Coat Factory are now located. They sold $10 raffle tickets for baskets they had on each floor of the building, and the store offered significant discounts to attendees. He said because the fundraiser was around election time, politicians got involved too.

After Joan’s death in 2012, Mr. McLaughlin stepped back for two years to deal with the grief of her loss. Hazelwood Initiative board president Deloris Livsey and other board members stepped in to help make Safe Halloween happen.

In 2014, Mr. McLaughlin took the reigns again with help from his three grown children, who have donated money, toys and books every year since then. In 2016, he remarried and Judy McLaughlin joined his Safe Halloween efforts.

Behind the Halloween magic

“Safe Halloween is one of the few things the Initiative does independent of any other organization each year,” Mr. McLaughlin said.

For the last two years, he raised enough money for just 250 bags. This year, for the event’s 25th anniversary, he aims to raise enough money for 300 bags.

Mr. McLaughlin mails a yearly donation request to residents in Hazelwood or asks them to come to one of the monthly community meetings in September or October. This way, by donating, they don’t need to purchase trick-or-treat candy themselves or open their door on Halloween.

“Any cash I receive at the meeting I turn in right away,” he said. “I don’t like to collect any money [myself].”

The response he gets is usually successful in Hazelwood, with around 50 to 65 residents supporting and donating to Safe Halloween each year.

In any given year the candy alone costs $800 to $1,200. Typically, he buys from S&S Candy and Cigar in South Side, where he gets a 10% discount, he said.

When he asks local businesses or chain restaurants for donations, he visits in person. He’s more successful this way, raising up to $1,200.

This year, he’s been in contact with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Steelers, the University of Pittsburgh, Red Robin, Dave & Busters, LongHorn Steakhouse and others. He plans to try and get a few mascots to attend the event.

Typically, he asks businesses to give donations for free raffle baskets. That way adults can participate, and he can reward his volunteers. The bags of candy and other donations are only for children under 12. They’ve held basket raffles since 2013.

The Steelers are donating a sports basket, and his contact with the University of Pittsburgh is giving away tickets to a Pitt game.

In late October each year, volunteers and Hazelwood Initiative staff gather in the organization’s office to stuff bags with goodies. Each bag is 12 by 15 inches with about 25 items inside, including 18 pieces of candy. These days, he puts address stickers with the event name on the front accompanied by the organization’s phone number.

He doesn’t like to give candy to adults or to parents with babies because babies can’t eat candy, he said. Usually he turns those parents away, but this year he plans to give away plush toys for the babies.

When they hand out the candy on Halloween night, Mr. McLaughlin makes sure it’s festive. This year he plans to dress up as a blow-up cow; the costume was a Christmas gift from his grandkids. One year when the office was located at 5125 Second Ave, he rented a casket from a funeral home.

“Our [previous executive] director Jim Richter laid in there,” he said.

Mr. McLaughlin is looking for someone to take over the event so in the coming years he can retire.

Safe Halloween is still held at 5125 Second Ave., outside the Gazebo at Second and Johnson avenues from 5 to 7 p.m. on Halloween night. Candy donations can be sent to the Hazelwood Initiative office at 4901 Second Ave. by Oct. 20.

Cassandra Harris is a junior at Point Park University and editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, The Globe. She wrote this article as a Pittsburgh Media Partnership 2024 summer intern at The Homepage.