Newtown High School’s National Honor Society recently collected Halloween candy and donated it last weekend to houses on Main Street to pass out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. The group also collected some youth-sized Halloween costumes for children in town who are interested in trick-or-treating but did not already have a costume.

According to NHS National Honor Society Co-Presidents Kelsey Brennan and Reese Lischuk, this is an extension of the group’s goal to be a positive influence and to give back and provide to residents in Newtown. Brennan and Lischuk have been involved with the group since they were juniors, and continued with the group into their senior year to help other people in their community.

“We specifically want to help the people around us [in Newtown],” Brennan said. “There’s a lot you can do on a large scale, but we’re all here, so why not make a difference right around us?”

The NHS National Honor Society, which currently has around 60 students, holds drives for various organizations and causes at their monthly meetings. Some drives they have already planned for this school year include a food drive for Thanksgiving in November, and then a drive for a women’s shelter in March in honor of it being women’s month.

For October, the group came together and wanted to do something special to help families on Main Street for Halloween. Trick or Treating has only grown in popularity in Newtown, with thousands of children in costume excitedly going from door-to-door looking for candy and other goodies.

One of those many trick-or-treaters over the years is Brennan, who said that she has gone trick-or-treating on Main Street a lot, especially when she was little. She told The Newtown Bee that she remembers “just loving” all the decorations that people would put up for Halloween.

“And now I have a couple of friends who live on Main Street, and I know that they get so many people every year,” Brennan continued. “Even just providing candy [for all the trick-or-treaters] can be a hardship. So this is just something nice and easy that we can do for the people in our town.”

Lischuk said that they decided to do the Halloween drive through the National Honor Society because the group members are dedicated to volunteering and she knew that they would be happy to help.

“These are kids who really do want to help and are committed to it,” Lischuk said.

The NHS National Honor Society ultimately gathered a wide range of candy, including Twizzlers, Snickers, Skittles, Life Savers Gummies, and more. As for youth costumes, they collected a set of angel wings, a blue tutu, an orange Indiana Jones style hat, a zebra costume, two pirate costumes, a dragon costume, and a zombie costume.

They delivered the costumes per contact basis according to Lischuk. She added that they worked hard to reach out and advertise it to anyone who might be interested.

Since the Halloween drive is only one of the NHS National Honor Society’s many efforts throughout the year, Lischuk added that they want the community to contact them or the high school in case they need something. She said that the group is “always looking for more people in the community to reach out” and that they are ready to help.

Several NHS National Honor Society members have worked volunteer opportunities for events at the Newtown Community Center, and the group has previously worked together with Families United in Newtown (FUN) to co-organize events for kids with special needs.

They are also involved with a program at NHS called “You’re Welcome,” which provides tours for new students to the school and helps them feel more welcome.

“So it’s a lot of mentorship and community service and connections,” Lischuk said. “That’s really the heart of what we do.”

For anyone interested in working with Newtown High School National Honor Society, email newtownhighschoolnhs25@gmail.com or call Newtown High School at 203-426-7646.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.