Gainesville’s children can go trick-or-treating safely from store to store this Halloween instead of door to door.
The Oaks Mall Ambassadors is hosting the first Safe Trick or Treat inside the mall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
The group formed about a year ago to enhance the overall services and shopping experience at the mall.
Elgin Carelock, the 50-year-old Oaks Mall Ambassadors’ concierge manager, said the mall’s executive board allocated holiday budgets for the group to be able host events such as this one.
Certain retail stores will be spookily decorated and giving kids candy, stickers and little toys.
Two coloring stations will be set up around the mall to serve as pit stops for tired trick-or-treaters who want to take a break with coloring books and crayons.
Pumpkins will mark the 60 retail stores that chose to participate in the event. Parents and children can receive a list of the participating stores at the Oaks Mall Ambassadors’ kiosk, located between Francesca’s Collections and Victoria’s Secret.
“The mall will serve the community as an alternative place that is fun and well-lit for children to trick or treat in a safe and secured environment,” Carelock said.
This event will help children and families avoid the spike of Halloween crimes that occur every year.
“Trick-or-treating at the mall will be a thousand times safer than doing it on the streets because the mall is an enclosed area with professional companies handing out candy rather than strangers’ houses,” said local attorney Farhana Chowdhury.
She shops at the mall often and plans to bring her two daughters to the event, 7-year-old Mehreen and 5-year-old Anayah. They are going to dress as Elsa and Anna from Disney’s “Frozen.”
Chowdhury plans to go with a group of her friends who also have children. The parents will be able to browse the shops, while also keeping an eye on their trick-or-treating kids.
“I think what the Oaks Mall is doing is absolutely fantastic,” Chowdhury said. “The mall is not only catering to adult consumers’ shopping needs, but it is also making the mall an exciting place for younger children to come to.”
