- April 18, 2024
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Four local kids put their love of all things spooky to a good cause and hosted a haunted house for the Alzheimer's Association.
With an empty guest house, a pool of friends to help and a shared love of Halloween, four siblings decided they wanted to do something different this year.
“I like Halloween Horror Nights,” 11-year-old Daniel McDonald said. “So I wanted to do a haunted house.”
A refrigerator full of severed body parts, levitating dolls and a classic chainsaw scare fit the house’s theme of “everything creepy.”
“We had a room for everything,” said 17-year-old Kate McDonald. “Dad had his head on a table, and would then grab people’s feet as they walked by.”
“We wanted to like make people think it was a lame haunted house at first, and then jump out and scare them,” Daniel McDonald said.
The crew started planning in the beginning of September, and with the help of 20 or so friends, were able to open the house for two hours on one night to almost 100 people.
“We had a guest list,” their mom, Sue McDonald, said. “This year we had to figure out all these little things about it, and we’re hoping to make it much better next year.”
However, the haunted house wasn’t just to scare their family and friends. They asked participants to donate to the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of their two grandmothers that died from the disease. They raised $620.
“My mom died when she was 94, but it started affecting her earlier,” Sue McDonald said. “When I would go home, she wouldn’t know who I was anymore. The kids saw how that really broke me up. I’m really proud of them for doing this.
John McDonald, Kate McDonald and Olivia Pippio attended Seabreeze High School and Daniel McDonald attends Ormond Beach Middle School.
What is the Alzheimer’s Foundation?
The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research. According to their website, their mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.
See more at www.alz.org.
10 early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s
From the Alzheimer's Association:
