This fall, terrifying nuns and charity may have more in common than you would think.

This year Interstate Van Lines launched the Morrissette Drive Haunted Maze, an event that fused a canned food drive with the classic Halloween tradition of being terrorized by masked villains. The admission price of the maze was a canned food donation with the purpose of benefitting Springfield’s local ECHO location.

Several WS students, including seniors Chris Guerrero and Tony Chau, helped to bring last week’s fright-filled Friday and spine-chilling Saturday into action.

“I helped by building the actual maze, putting up props, and scaring people,” said Guerrero.

There is a plethora of preparation that goes into designing, creating, and running a haunted maze, so the organizers of the event were grateful for the support from the WS community.

“I did some of everything. I designed and built the maze, and even dressed up at the event,” said Chau.

The Interstate employees and volunteers came together and did an exceptional job putting together an event that contributed to the Springfield community. 400 people came through the maze on Saturday night and 200 came through Friday, despite competing with WS’s football game against Annandale.

Not only did the event contribute an impressive number of cans to ECHO, but it was also enjoyable for those who attended. This was shown by the deafening sound of ear-splitting screams ringing from the maze throughout the night.

“I almost had a heart attack,” said junior Londyn Gentry, who attended the maze.

Not all of Interstate’s charity events, however, are characterized by unnerving horror and substantial nightmares. They will be starting their annual Toys-for-Tots campaign the day after Thanksgiving. This is a longstanding tradition in the company and anyone can contribute by collecting toys and dropping them off at the Interstate location.

Charity events like this allow WS students and members of the community to learn new skills and contribute to Springfield in a fun way. Volunteers come out of charity events with the great feeling that comes with helping others and dedicating time to something more than personal gain. In the case of the Morrissette Drive Haunted House, volunteers also get to enjoy a few hours of terrifying countless people in the name of charity.

“I helped scare away hunger,” said Chau.