Mike Wolanin | The Republic Sara Elifritz poses for a photo while dressed in a witch’s hat with a giant skeleton from her spooky Halloween display in the background at her home on Parkside Drive in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Elifritz put up the large Halloween display as part of the Skeletons for St. Jude nationwide fundraising event. She is hoping to raise $1000 for the organization.
The sight of a skeleton might strike some people as ominous. To others, the plastic bones and sleepy smile might seem like a cheesy gimmick, or a cheerful reminder that Halloween is right around the corner.
At one Columbus residence, however, these figures represent something more than just a spooky specter — they are the backdrop for a fundraising campaign that is all about saving lives.
Sara Elifritz of 2043 Parkside Drive has gone all out with her Halloween yard display in participation with a nationwide fundraising effort known as “Skeletons for St. Jude.” The effort as a whole is seeking to raise $100,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Elifritz’s personal goal is to raise $1,000.
As of Oct. 17, the Skeletons for St. Jude effort had raised more than $85,000 in 2022, including $240 from Elifritz’s campaign.
“Seeing the enjoyment out of all the kids in the neighborhood and seeing the Skeletons for St. Jude mission to help get more kids out of the hospital so that they can enjoy things like this really is the big thing,” she said. “I think that every kid should be able to go out and find joy in things like this.”
Skeletons for St. Jude started with the Robertson family of Holly Springs, North Carolina, who decided to place a St. Jude fundraising sign in their yard after a local TV station aired footage of their skeleton Halloween display.
“After generating $8,200, in a few short weeks, and meeting several families impacted by childhood cancer, the Robertsons were moved to turn the fundraiser into an annual event,” according to St. Jude.
In 2021, more than 400 homes across the U.S. participated in the campaign, which raised more than $150,000. The goal for 2022 is to raise $100,000 and reach a cumulative milestone of more than $250,000.
Elifritz participated in the fundraiser last year after hearing about it through social media. Her current display includes not only spooky skeletons, but other creepy creatures, including jolly jack o’lanterns, wicked witches, scary scarecrows and other fearsome phantoms.
The bone-chilling sight took a month to put together, by Elifritz’s estimates. She started buying bigger items in July and spent a lot of time tracking release dates. She then took a week off in September to start working on those pieces. The work continued on evenings and weekends.
In addition to shopping, assembly work, and a little bit of do-it-yourself, Elifritz also spent time thinking about the layout of the display — how to pose things, arrange lights, and place cables in such a way as to avoid tripping hazards.
“The most fun part for me is seeing the kids that come through and really enjoy it,” she said. “I have a couple of kids that come by several times a day. One neighbor calls it the ‘Halloween party,’ and his parents even have to drive him by at times. So it’s just seeing the kids that really are enjoying it. Sometimes I just hangout in the evenings and show them how to work the different animatronics that are outside.”
