{"id":35265,"date":"2024-10-24T16:36:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T20:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35265"},"modified":"2024-10-24T16:36:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T20:36:45","slug":"starlight-kids-usher-in-spooky-season-with-fun-event-at-local-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/starlight-kids-usher-in-spooky-season-with-fun-event-at-local-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlight Kids usher in Spooky Season with fun event at local hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Halloween came early to Aurora on Saturday as more than 100 families celebrated the start of Spooky Season at Microtel Inn &amp; Suites with Starlight Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dubbed \u201cTrick or Suite\u201d, the Starlight-hosted event brought thrills and chills \u2013 and some of families\u2019 favourite characters from movies and TV \u2013 to the hotel in Aurora\u2019s northeast, offering an inclusive and accessible trick-or-treating event for seriously ill children and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starlight took over an entire floor of the hotel for the occasion, decorating each room with a different theme designed to spark imagination, joy and, of course, a thrill and chill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annual Trick or Suite event was established by Starlight, realizing that trick-or-treating door-to-door is not a fully accessible experience for those who use wheelchairs and other forms of mobility aids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe support seriously ill and chronically ill children, as well as the disabled,\u201d says Kaitlin Kiraly, Children\u2019s Services Officer for Starlight Canada. \u201cWe have kids who are, unfortunately, terminally ill, kids with cancer, cerebral palsy, spina bifida [and] what we hear time and time again is if they didn\u2019t have Trick or Suite, they wouldn\u2019t be able to trick or treat because of mobility issues. It\u2019s the family\u2019s chance to trick-or-treat together in a safe and supportive environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s so cute to see kids and their families come dressed up and actually get to experience a Halloween they wouldn\u2019t otherwise get to. We often hear that it positively affects both their mental health as well as their confidence levels. One thing we do hear a lot, actually, is even with siblings \u2013 it helps the entire family. A lot of times the seriously ill child is going through the treatment, hospital visits or whatever if might be, for some siblings who don\u2019t get as much attention as that, siblings get to meet other siblings who go through the same or similar experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is \u201cbeautiful,\u201d she adds, to see these siblings form connections with others who understand the journey and form \u201ca deeper connection than what they would with their friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrick or Suite is one of the many ways we serve at moments through the year, while families are going through treatments or hospital stays, just to create those family memories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Families interested in learning more about the services and events hosted by the organization and to become a Starlight Family can visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.starlightcanada.org\">www.starlightcanada.org<\/a> and begin an application process. It\u2019s as simple as getting a sign-off from a physician stating the child\u2019s diagnosis and a team goes through each application to see if they meet criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Successful applicants are then invited to be a part of programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35265&amp;t=Starlight%20Kids%20usher%20in%20Spooky%20Season%20with%20fun%20event%20at%20local%20hotel&amp;s=100&amp;p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35265&amp;p[images][0]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F10%2F2024-10-24-06.jpg&amp;p[title]=Starlight%20Kids%20usher%20in%20Spooky%20Season%20with%20fun%20event%20at%20local%20hotel\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35265&amp;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Starlight%20Kids%20usher%20in%20Spooky%20Season%20with%20fun%20event%20at%20local%20hotel&amp;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F35265\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Halloween came early to Aurora on Saturday as more than 100 families celebrated the start of Spooky Season at Microtel Inn &amp; Suites with Starlight Canada. Dubbed \u201cTrick or Suite\u201d, the Starlight-hosted event brought thrills and chills \u2013 and some of families\u2019 favourite characters from movies and TV \u2013 to the hotel in Aurora\u2019s northeast, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2024-10-24-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9aN","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 11:10:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}