“Just give back to the community a little bit”: Papa Tom’s holds Trunk or Treat for kids

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - With Halloween coming up, plenty of people are trying to stay safe while tricker treating this year.

Papa Tom's Pizza in Idaho Falls welcomed many to their parking lot on Wednesday for their first-ever Trunk or Treat event.

Social distancing was encouraged as each car was parked at least six feet from each other. Hand sanitizer and face coverings were available for those who wanted them.

"I do, since it's outdoors," Mary Mueller said she felt comfortable about her safety at the event. "I feel great about it. You know, just because of the pandemic, we have to continue to live our lives, so as long as we're safe."

Safety was number one for the crew. They expect other trunk or treats in East Idaho to follow similar guidelines.

"Probably not a lot of kids are gonna be out doing trick or treating," Papa Tom's Pizza manager, Rylee Van Lueven said. "We just set something up so we would still be able to social distance, keep everything clean, so people would still be able to come out and get candy get pizzas get treats."

"Just give back to the community a little bit, you know," Hailey McCarthy said. "Give them something fun to do since all of this coronavirus going around. Give them some fun."

A portion of the money raised on Wednesday will go to the Toys for Tots and the Snake River Animal Shelter.

"Just because they have been through COVID," Brandy Simonds said. "We've had a great response. We feel bad for the businesses that haven't been able to make it through this time and we're just very thankful for all the loyal customers and the new customers coming to see us."

"At the end of the day, it really is just giving back to the community and just businesses helping other local businesses," McCarthy said. "So that's all we're here to do today, pretty much."