Alina Sotula
In Focus

The Charity Haunt, a maze that raises money for SickKids, is heading into its fifth year and according to organizers it promises to be bigger and better this year.
“This event has drawn as many as 2,000 visitors every Halloween,” said Andrea Wadell, a Humber student in charge of organizing the event’s many volunteers.
“We have volunteers from all over the community. Lots of high school students helped out,” she said. They can help with stage props and make the place their own. It’s more of a personal investment.”
Charity Haunt’s goal is to collect $10,000 for SickKids this year.
“Just creating this whole experience is a thrill in itself. Bringing my passion for Halloween to collecting money for charity was amazing,” said Lorne Andrews, organizer and founder of the haunt.
It was previously housed in the home of one of the  Andrews, but moved to the Powerhouse Recreation Cener near the Humber Lakeshore Campus this year.
One of the reasons the Haunt changed locations was because hosting an event of this scale was becoming overwhelming for the Andrews family.
“It was limited within the house with the rain and the wind blowing the tents away,” said Aneta Andrews a worker for the house.  “So when we got this opportunity, we took it.”
“The power house is rumoured to be haunted anyway,” she added. “The building is very creepy.”
The maze includes scenes constructed by the volunteers – like a child’s room with beheaded dolls created by two high school students. Other scenes include the bug wall, the vortex, a cemetery, and of course the classics Jason and Hannibal Lecter.
“We have a chicken board for people who don’t want to go through,” Aneta said. “We had a lady who said ‘I’m not going in, I haven’t seen anybody walk out yet!”
The volunteer count is currently at over 90 and rising, Wadell said.
“I was looking for volunteer opportunities. It’s a concentrated bunch of hours over one week and it seemed like fun,” said Damian Smektala, a volunteer for the Haunt. “I’ll just keep an eye on things.”
Smektala will have a lot of work on his hands since the Haunt is expected to attract as many as 16,000 according to Wadell.