Just outside of The Velvet Freeze Daiquiris ,1827 Vine Street in the Historic 18th and Vine district, over 100 excited children and attending adults form a line stretching around the block. Inside the building, the kids begin the challenging task of choosing from hundreds of Halloween costumes, ranging from video game characters to princesses to spooky monster masks. Among the first dozen in line is Tomeka Hawkins-Woodcox, holding a Pokémon character costume she picked for herself. With Hawkins-Woodcox is her 15-year-old daughter, Breanna Nix, who is examining a yellow Minions costume from the movie franchise "Despicable Me." Hawkins-Woodcox said she's grateful JuneteenthKC sponsored this event. A free costume is allowing the family to celebrate this year as finances are tight.
“Some years I wasn’t able to afford costumes for my kids," she said. "This year being able to have a costume is everything to me and my family.”
The mother never wanted to deprive her kids and usually took them trick-or-treating — dressed as themselves. But her daughter has a date this Halloween and doesn't want to feel left out without a costume.
“I feel like this is (still) important to me and people my age,” said Nix. “I just want everyone to have a good childhood experience and stuff so they can like, grow up and remember ... and look back on it and maybe make the experience better for their kids and their families.”
JuneteenthKC has been holding the costume giveaway for about 10 years. It coincides with their Halloween event, “Haunt on The Vine.” This event is a big block party that happens in the 18th and Vine district.
The organization highlights African American history, culture, and community, commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The organization was founded in 1980 by the late Horace M. Peterson III, a Kansas City historian and Black community leader who also established the Black Archives of Mid-America. Today, the nonprofit plans the city’s Juneteenth celebration, as well as a number of other events throughout the year,
Checking families in at the front of the line at the costume giveaway is Program Director Makeda Peterson. She said Halloween is a much more expensive holiday than it was when she was young. She said these events are designed to unburden families that might not have a budget line for Halloween.
“All the kiddos walk away happy and you see the relief in the parent, like, 'Oh good. I'm so relieved,'" she said. "They don't have to continue to worry about, you know, what's probably sitting in their Amazon cart."
To put on this event, JuneteenthKC partners with local schools, the Greg Klice Community Center, and even the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Though they aren’t able to hand-pick specific costumes, Peterson said it's very rare that a child doesn’t see a character they want to portray.
“Most of these kids want the ability to just be able to have that imaginative (experience) in place," she said. "That's why we also require the children to come to the event. We want them to pick their costume, pick what they like, what fits them and what will make them happy.”
Peterson feels no child should feel left out of celebrations, whether its Halloween, Christmas, or any other holiday. The child's memory of those days, she said, should be about what they did instead of what they were able to afford.
“We're just really trying to give every child the opportunity to have that spirit of coming together," she said. "Of community, and just, you know, not having to be stressed out about, again, the money side of it. I think this generation has a lot more pressure.”
Satisfied with her costume choice, Breanna Nix prepares to leave the building. She is smiling. When asked if she would go trick-or-treating after her date, she initially said no, suggesting it might look uncool to her peers. But it didn't take long for her to change her mind.
“I'm not (too old) for trick-or-treating. People say that's childish, but I like candy.”
