C4W (Costumes for Woodrow)

“I’ll NEVER use this in life!” I can hear myself saying in 9th grade in Algebra, but recently the day arrived where I needed to utilize these skills for practical purposes. I had a 48″ wide board that I needed to cut into three pieces to create a triangular receptacle that neatly fit in the 90° corner of the small foyer of the Raven Café. Its triangular design was important to retain the space’s handicap accessibility. What’s a girl who failed Algebra in high school to do? Ask her co-workers for help, that’s what. They put their heads together and sorted out that it the formula needed was the Pythagorean theorem: A²xB²=C²

Coincidentally, this receptacle was for the use of collecting Halloween costumes for neighborhood elementary school Woodrow Wilson’s C4W’s (Costumes for Woodrow) initiative. Their new principal, Joe Kramer and his wife Sarah, were disheartened to see that approximately one-quarter of their students did not have costumes for their Halloween parade this year. They contacted the Raven and asked if we would be a drop-off spot for new and gently used costumes, so next year costumes would be available for students who came to school on Halloween without one. We at the Raven love Halloween (we celebrate all the way through New Year’s Day with jack-o-lanterns rocking Santa hats!) Halloween magic lives and breathes in our Poe-themed cafe, so we were on board!

Our triangular Frankenstein box contains one costume thus far. Woodrow Wilson Elementary and the Raven will be accepting donations through December 1st, so please consider donating your children’s old costumes or shopping the post-Halloween sales for some. Last year, Toys R Us had a whopping 90% off costumes after Halloween, which priced them at $3-$4!