The residents of the county home recently celebrated Christmas with gifts purchased with help of funds raised through the 7 Lights of Trepidation Haunted House Fundraiser in October.
This year, the fundraiser raised $3,318 for the residents of the county home, bringing the total to over $10,000 since organizer Jennifer Davis took over the operations in 2019. All funds raised through the fundraiser are given to the county home solely for the Christmas party and the gifts that the residents receive.
In previous years, residents have reportedly approached the volunteers at the haunted house wearing the shoes or clothes they received from the Christmas funds as a gratitude for the work that the volunteers do for the residents.
According to Davis, the Christmas fund now has extra funding stored for future Christmas parties and gifts for the residents due to the increased turnout the attraction is receiving every year. However, Davis has always looked toward increasing that fund until the residents are guaranteed Christmas gifts for many years down the road. The county home is a county-owned facility that receives funding from the county government, but the funds raised through the fundraiser allow for the county to better focus on other aspects of the facility instead of budgeting thousands of dollars for Christmas gifts.
“Special thanks to all who made Christmas merry for the residents of (the) County Home – especially those who organized and attended this year’s haunted house,” the county government released. “The men and women had a happy holiday thanks in large part to you.”
This year, the haunted house was also a hotspot for tourism in Frankfort, drawing in community members from across Indiana that yearned to be frightened for a good cause. According to Davis, tallies showed that nearly 40% of the visitors to the haunted house toward the end of the three-weekend run time were from outside of the 46041 zip code.
The haunted house volunteers have already begun planning for next year’s event with multiple members planning to attend trainings at Transworld in St. Louis, Missouri in 2024.
