Children Go Batty for Halloween Fun at Arab American Museum

posted on: Nov 3, 2014

Children were enchanted by the merry, not scary Halloween celebration at the Arab American National Museum on Oct. 25.

About 115 children and 50 adults attended the event.

“Haunted Halloween is truly one of our best-loved recurring events,” said AANM Spokeswoman Kim Silarski.

The fifth annual Haunted Halloween Family party took place in the brand new Annex at the museum and featured a parade and costume contest.

There were plenty of activities to keep the children busy and entertained from decorating pumpkins to playing games and even learning about all kinds of bats.

Back at AANM, the youngsters explored the museum’s second floor for trick-or-treating in the galleries, while on the main floor, live things with wings like bats and an owl were on display, courtesy of The Bat Zone at Cranbrook Institute of Science, home to the renowned Organization for Bat Conservation and 150 species of bats.

The annual event would not have been possible without the budding philanthropists of the Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI) based at ACCESS, the AANM’s parent organization.

TGI is a program of ACCESS’ Center for Arab American Philanthropy, the only national, full-service philanthropic institution dedicated to building a legacy of giving in the Arab American community. Proceeds from this year’s Haunted Halloween party will be returned to the
community via future TGI grants.

Since 2011, groups of young people ages 13-19 have performed needs assessments to help prioritize neighborhood issues; developed and released requests for proposals; and then reviewed grant applications from youth-focused organizations. TGI now has active chapters in Dearborn and is looking to expand with more chapters around the country.

Jodi Rempala
Press and Guide