A London, Ontario family’s mission to swap sweets for canned goods proved a huge success after their Halloween display helped raise £1,222 in donations for the London Food Bank.
The East London display was a key element of Global News’ Halloween display card this year.
It contained a number of items scattered across a lawn, with a 25-foot glow-in-the-dark great white shark named Bitey serving as the centerpiece.
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Sarah Appleby, who created the display with her husband Thomas Jurisaga, says construction took around eight to 10 hours, followed by another week of painting and applying the finishing touches.
Sarah Appleby’s Halloween display at 65 Wethered St. in London, Ontario.
supplied by Sarah Appleby
While crafting an original spooky spectacle has become a Halloween tradition for Appleby’s family, this marked the first time they set up a donation bin for the London Food Bank.
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“(My neighbor) wanted to do this and we teamed up. I jumped on it on October 4th and he jumped on it about two weeks later,” Appleby said.
From there, Appleby went to Facebook and began calling media outlets in hopes of spreading the word. She even gave out candy in exchange for every donation made.
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“My daughter helped distribute candy; She always thanked me for the donation. My son helped collect donations, which I kept at my house, so it was a family effort. It was a community effort,” Appleby said.
“It was also a big eye opener because a bunch of strangers get together? It is wonderful.”
Sarah Appleby and her family pose in front of Bitey, a glow-in-the-dark great white shark that helped raise more than £1,200 in donations for the London Food Bank.
supplied by Sarah Appleby
The massive donation was praised by Jane Roy, Co-Executive Director of the London Food Bank.
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“1,200 pounds is worth about $3,000 worth of groceries. So if you think about it in that context, you can see how far £1,200 goes,” said Roy.
Halloween proved to be a pure boon rather than a food bank ruse, with a number of other donations from the holiday including a couple of homes bringing in around £1,100 of groceries.
“Seeing all this food and seeing the people who made it and actually had a lot of fun doing it was a real joy for us,” added Roy.
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For the next year, Appleby plans to continue asking for donations as part of a new annual tradition for her family.
“We would definitely build this shark because we love Halloween as a family,” Appleby said.
“Now we’re throwing the donations in there, the more word gets around the better.”
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Additional Halloween candy
Additional Halloween Candy – November 3, 2021
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