by Neelam Mehta
Daily Lobo
Children, dressed as everything from ninjas to fairies, filled the halls of the Martineztown House of Neighborly Service Friday for a Halloween party organized by three UNM organizations.
Golden Key International Honor Society, Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars sponsored the party for the children who live and go to school in the area, most of whom come from poverty, said Andrea Otero, president of Phi Eta Sigma.
"We want to help out this community because it's near UNM and it's a good way to get in touch with the children," Otero said.
The oldest and largest freshman honor society, Phi Eta Sigma is a national honor society open to freshman who have a minimum 3.5 GPA.
The children's ages, ranging from about 4 to 10, didn't stop the organizing bodies from stressing the importance of a college education, Otero said.
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"This lets the kids know that college is attainable, and we're just normal people associating with them," Otero said.
NSCS president Allison Hudson, a UNM sophomore, who spent the day playing games with the children and wrapping them up with toilet paper to resemble mummies, agreed, adding they wanted the event to be more than just a party.
"We're trying to catch them at a young age and influence them to go to college," Hudson said.
She said the Albuquerque community would be a better place if University groups collaborated more often to benefit those less fortunate.
Hudson said she also wanted the children to have a safe place for the kids to spend their Halloween.
"Albuquerque is not exactly the place I'd want to take my kids trick-or-treating," she said.
Everyone involved said the University needs to make every effort to establish relationships with the city's youth to improve their opinion of college.
"We establish relationships with the kids," said Stephanie Ford, UNM senior and president of Golden Key. "We show them that you can dress up and act dorky when you're older. Having fun is important. I think we are also setting a good example. It is a great way for UNM students to meet each other as well."
All UNM student groups are made to participate in a number of community service events yearly, according to UNM's Student Activities' Web site.
Many of the groups, including Golden Key and the NSCS, prefer to spend that time with children.
"Almost all of our service projects focus on children," Hudson said. "Our main goal is being able to help them and tutor them."
Representatives from all three participating groups said they hope to make the Halloween party an annual event.
"If I have the opportunity to do it next year, I'd love to," Hudson said. "If you can make a kid smile, you've made a difference - especially on Halloween."
