Halloween costumes stolen from Lexington KY organization
Caring Costumes hosts an annual Costume Fair prior to Halloween in Lexington so children in need can get a costume. Costumes were stolen from the organization after the 2021 fair, according to a co-founder.
Photo via Caring Costumes (Facebook)
A Lexington organization which provides Halloween costumes to children in need is hoping to get more donations after boxes of costumes were stolen prior to Halloween, according to one of the organization’s founders.
Caring Costumes, a charitable organization which provides previously used Halloween costumes to families in Lexington and nearby counties, lost a few boxes of costumes when they were stolen after the group’s 2021 Costume Fair on Wednesday, according to Kathy Phillips, a Caring Costumes co-founder.
Phillips said she was organizing and putting away boxes of leftover costumes after the 2021 Costume Fair and decided she’d finish putting some of the boxes away later. When she came back to them later, they were gone. She said she figured out they’d been stolen and filed a police report.
“We still have a lot left,” Phillips said. “But we always need more because you can’t give away enough … but it was a serious dip into our stash.”
The Lexington and Central Kentucky community has “already been amazing” in helping Caring Costumes recover from the loss, Phillips said.
“It’s hard to put into numbers, but the response has been overwhelming,” she said. She also said the support they’ve seen is “heartwarming.”
Phillips and her friend, Robin Anderson, founded Caring Costumes five years ago, Phillips said. The moms started the organization because they were trying to figure out what to do with old Halloween costumes which they didn’t want to go to waste. They decided to start accepting donations of others’ costumes to give to other children.
“What else are you going to do with your costume?” Phillips asked.
They’ve since put on regular Costume Fair events, where they’ve given away as many as 400 costumes to children who otherwise may not have been able to dress up for Halloween, Phillips said. This year’s event was at the William Wells Brown Community Center. COVID-19 has impacted the number of costumes the organization could give away the past two years, Phillips said.
“This Costume Fair has been a very effective way to directly give costumes to kids who may not otherwise have them,” Phillips said.
Caring Costumes said on its Facebook page Sunday it is “stocking back up and back on track to have another awesome costume fair next year.”
“Please keep us in mind as you pack up costumes on Monday,” the organization said on its Facebook page. “Just contact us and we will collect and give them away for another child to enjoy.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2021 3:33 PM.
Jeremy Chisenhall covers breaking news for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. He joined the paper in 2020, and is originally from Erlanger, Ky.
