Sara Elifritz stands among her spooky Halloween display at her home on Parkside Drive in Columbus on Oct. 17.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
A local resident has raised nearly $2,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the help of some spooky, scary skeletons.
Sara Elifritz of 2043 Parkside Drive is participating in a nationwide effort known as “Skeletons for St. Jude,” where participants use eye-catching and bone-chilling displays to raise funds for the research hospital. As of Halloween morning, Elifritz had raised $1,911, almost double of her original $1,000 goal.
Donations can be made at events.stjude.org/SkeletonsOnParksideDrive, and Elifritz plans to keep her haunting display up through at least next weekend.
“The link (to donate) will actually remain open until August 1 of next year when they launch the next fundraiser so we can collect donations with our displays for other holidays,” she said. “My skeletons celebrate other holidays as well … so I’ll put the sign out any time they’re out.”
For those looking for more spooky fun in Columbus, other houses in Elifritz’s neighborhood have also gotten into the spirit of the season, including a Harry Potter-themed home at 2096 Oneida Court with everything from a life-size hippogriff to a flying car stuck in a Whomping Willow. There is also a light display at the corner of Pawnee Trail and Pinewood Drive that is timed in sync with a radio station playing Halloween tunes.
Elifritz, who enjoys coming up with creative and intricate yard displays, participated in the 2021 Skeletons for St. Jude campaign after hearing about it through social media. The 2022 campaign, as a whole, has raised over $150,000.
Skeletons for St. Jude began 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 Skeletons for St. Jude.
In 2021, more than 400 homes across the U.S. participated in the campaign, which raised more than $150,000. As of Monday morning, $159,259 has been raised during the 2022 season — meaning that Skeletons for St. Jude has now raised over $300,000 since its inception.
