By Yoshika Shibata
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO, Ark. – In the shadow of the upcoming Halloween holiday, coronavirus cases continue to surge in Northeast Arkansas.

According to the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s weekly report, Craighead and five other NEA counties remain in the “red zone” for COVID cases.

Craighead was third in the state, behind Pulaski and Washington, with the highest number of new cases over the last three weeks.

However, Halloween celebrations continued despite the rise.

Halloween this year looked a little different in order to keep everyone safe.

After much thought and consideration, organizers with Miracle Kids Success Academy decided to provide something fun for the Jonesboro community that also followed social distancing guidelines.

The event was a ‘Drive-Thru Trunk or Treat’ where participants experienced a Halloween trick or treating experience with a twist.

Samantha Goodwin of Miracle Kids Success Academy said, “This is actually the first year that we are doing the Trunk or Treat, and the reason we did it is because we wanted to provide a little bit normalcy for the Jonesboro Community during pandemic that we have.”

All volunteers wore costumes and masks and sanitized their hands after distributing candy and treats to each car.

“We asked businesses about it and to kind of see where they are at, where their heads were at and if they wanted to participate. The overwhelmingness of everybody wanting to have that normalcy… was really what drove us to this,” Goodwin said.

Several businesses and organizations such as NEA Baptist Clinic, Premiere Auto, Alpha Omicron Pi and Diego Ranch participated in the event along with Miracle Kids.

Volunteers decorated vehicles and provided candies for visitors.

Lynn Elliott of NEA Baptist Clinic said, “We are just wanting to support Miracle Kids and also to let people know about our clinic as well as about NEA Baptist Clinic Pediatrics, about doctors and providers there.”

Volunteers wore costumes while dancing to a music as carloads drove by.

Note: Feature photo by Yoshika Shibata