mcch halloween 1

Photos from last year’s event courtesy of Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach.

This Friday, October 31 from 10:15AM to 11:15AM, members of the Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) will join patients at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach as they dress up and trick-or-treat along a parade route throughout various departments of the hospital. On a much-anticipated holiday, when most kids are able to attend Halloween parties at school and trick-or-treat in costume with their friends and family at night, Miller Children’s and the LBFD recognize children in the hospital should be able to celebrate just like their friends.

mcch halloween 2More than 20 firefighters will be ready and available to assist pediatric patients into their costumes, pull them in wagons, push their wheelchairs and escort them through the hospital hallways collecting healthy treats. The entire hospital staff participates to ensure that the patients are able to partake in this memorable event not to be taken with a heavy heart. The costumed patients will trick-or-treat in groups, with each child having at least one firefighter to accompany them.

Family and friends can join in the fun and help the children fill their goodie bags with healthy treats and small prizes from departments such as the gift shop, pharmacy, administration office, imaging department, blood donor center and more. Patients and their escorts will have the opportunity to walk through a “haunted house” in the rehabilitation therapy department.

The event is coordinated by LBFDKids and the Child Life Program at Miller Children’s. The LBFDKids program was established to enhance the lives and well-being of the pediatric patients at Miller Children’s. The Child Life Program was developed to help make the hospital experience more positive for children of all ages.

Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach is located at 2801 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Enter the parking lot off of Memorial Medical Center Drive. Please call Caesar Cabada at (213) 705-5547 when you arrive. Parking will be validated.

Asia Morris is a Long Beach native covering arts and culture for the Long Beach Post. You can reach her @hugelandmass on Twitter and Instagram and at [email protected].