The 6th Annual Halloween Heroes event was held Tuesday night at FAO Schwarz in San Francisco. The event is put on by the Wender Weis Foundation for Children. Proceeds from the event go to the Junior Giants program, which helps rural areas and inner-city kids. Raiders FB Jon Ritchie was the honorary chairperson for the event this year. He has been a part of the event since 1998. "It's great! It's a lot of fun and to see everyone come out an support the event is just great." He was dressed up as "Spike the bowler."
FAO Schwarz is pretty impressive in and of itself, but with the help of volunteers, caterers and "Halloween Heroes" it was even better. With three floors covered wall to wall with toys and Bay Area athletes floating around, it was a child's dreamland. A lot of support was shown by the Oakland Raiders coming out to say hi to the kids and their teammate. DE Tony Bryant was there enjoying the exciting atmosphere. "I'm out here to support Jon Ritchie and help out the kids. I love doing things for the kids." His own daughter was enjoying the many activities that were happening around the store. There was face painting, balloon animals and hats, trick or treat booths and much more.
WR Tim Brown was found over in the Barbie section decorating pumpkins with his daughter. "This is such a great thing for us to be able to bring our own kids out here and enjoy such a fun night."
And of course there were a couple of Raider Legends there as well. Rod Sherman was present to check things out. "We've heard some great things that the Giants have been doing with some of their community projects, so I'm here to check things out, how it works and how the community responds to it." The response was amazing. The event was sold out and the doors were closed to the public, so unless you had a ticket you had to watch the happenings from the storefront windows.
Other Raiders in attendance strolling along and taking in everything were LB Travian Smith, QB Rick Mirer and DE Chris Cooper.
A lot of Bay Area athletes were there to support the Wender Weis Foundation including Dusty Baker from the San Francisco Giants. "This is my third time here. It's great, it's fun for the kids and it's always great to see everyone." The atmosphere showed that the city and people are all anticipating the Battle of the Bay this weekend.
When entering the toy store, children received a glow in the dark pumpkin to keep their goodies in. When leaving, they made sure you remembered your experience by handing you a bag full of toys. The night ran smoothly and was enjoyed by both the kids as well and maybe even more by the parents that got to see the giant smiles as their children hung out with their "Halloween Heroes."
