Trick-or-treaters raise money for local families at annual Pru Boo

Children dressed as princesses, witches and superheroes trick-or-treated with their families at the Prudential Center on Sunday to support the 15th annual Pru Boo.

“It’s a great community event where we get to partner with local charities and be involved in local families,” said Julie Messer, customer service manager at Boston Properties.

The Prudential Center teamed up with the charity, Room to Grow, to raise money to aid infants and their families in poverty as part of Pru Boo.

“It’s great when everybody helps everybody else,” said Sharon Carey, an instructor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. “The Prudential Center is a great neighbor. It brings all the neighbors together.”

Carey attended the Pru Boo with her granddaughter, seven-year-old Sadie Keesbury, a student at the Joseph J. Hurley School.

“It’s like Halloween before Halloween, so you can get a head start,” Keesbury, who was dressed up in a glittery homemade unicorn costume, said.

About 1,100 people came to the Prudential Center’s Halloween celebration last year, but Messer said that more came this year. Every year, the Pru tries to pick a different organization to support, said Elizabeth Chernack, community relations’ manager for Room to Grow.

“The Pru asked [Room to Grow] to be the beneficiary for them this year,” she said. “It was a perfect match for us with all the children that come to the event since we help out young children and families. A lot of people don’t know about our organization, so it is a great venue to teach everyone about us.”

Room to Grow received all of the proceeds from the Pru Boo, which were raised from the $4 cost of trick-or-treat bags. The organization was also there to collect new and used items to give to the families they help.

The money will help Room to Grow to provide funding and supplies for their three-year social program that works with local hospitals to identify women in their third trimester that are living in poverty.

Chernack said the family will meet with the same social worker every three months for the first three years of the infant’s life for one-on-one sessions. These sessions will discuss issues the family is having, from keeping the child warm at night to domestic violence.

The donated materials are given to the family at every visit and the families leave with about $1,000 worth of products from safety gear to clothes and ten books each visit, she said.

“Our goal is to make these parents better parents, more knowledgeable, and to better prepare them,” Chernack said.

Room to Grow is partnered with Isis Parenting in the Prudential Center mall, Chernack said. Isis Parenting was one of 56 companies and stores located in the Prudential Center that handed out candy for the trick-or-treating event.

The stores gave out candy to trick-or-treaters, but there were also activities such as face painting, magic shows and picture-taking with characters.

Eight-year-old Isabella Jacobs, dressed as an Aztec princess, and thirteen-year-old Deven Buskey, dressed as a zombie killer, said they came for the candy.

Isabella’s dad, Brian Jacobs, said he came to the Pru Boo because he will not get to see his daughter on Halloween.

“We wanted to do something for it,” Brian Jacobs said. “It’s warmer here, and it’s something fun and different.”

William Lee, who provides technical support for computer software, went dressed as Luigi to match his son, six-year-old Jasper Lee, dressed as Mario.

“We go as a team,” said William Lee. “The more trick-or-treating we get in, the better.”