For kids in isolation during Halloween, it was no ordinary night.
What could have been a dull, uneventful evening, turned into a pretty sweet deal, especially for 10-year-old Kane Sanderson.
“So, I have a son who was in Grade 5, and we were notified on Wednesday we had to pick him up,” said Renee Sanderson, founder of the Pay It Forward NWT Facebook group. “Someone in his class had an exposure or had Covid, and we had to pick him up.
“So we did and then that evening, we’re discussing like, ‘Uh oh, how do we tell our son that he can’t go trick or treating?’ This can be tricky. He’s autistic as well,” she continued. “So I kind of got discussing with my husband, trying to come up with ideas, and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, why don’t we bring Halloween to him and to the rest of his class?’”
This idea became known as reverse trick ‘r treating, where those in isolation — primarily from N.J. Macpherson School — would receive a special visit on All Hallow’s Eve.
“So I went onto (the) Pay It Forward Facebook page and, yeah, just set this thing up,” said Sanderson. “Like whoever’s interested, we can get the addresses of all the kids affected. We can do it on Sunday, between 2 (p.m.) and 4 (p.m.). They’ll put a basket out on their yard, we can drive around to these addresses (and) drop off candy to them.
“At the same time, the kids could still dress up and wave from their yard or their window,” she explained, “so at least they’re still able to participate.”
The idea went ahead from there, with many people jumping on board.
“The donations were outrageous and crazy,” said Sanderson. “So awesome.”
Some provided candy donations while others offered money to purchase treats.
“The (money) donations that I got were about $600,” said Sanderson. “And … like a whole one of those those cloth shopping bags full of candy.
“So that that was just from Pay It Forward,” she continued. “Then there’s other local people from Yellowknife that went out and did their own deliveries as well.”
All in all, Sanderson was blown away by the kindness on display.
“The participation from all of Yellowknife was just amazing,” she said. “My son (also) got a ton of candy. More than he would have got if he went out on his own. It was a huge success.”