Amie Armet showcasing a few of hundreds of costumes ready to be claimed at the upcoming Costume Boo-tique event at Country Club Centre. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

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NANAIMO — Making Halloween less frightening on the wallet and more sustainable are the driving forces behind a popular Nanaimo based costume donation pick-up effort.

Amie Armet, organizer of Costume Boo-tique, said several hundred pre-used costumes will be available for families and kids to look over and claim free of charge at Country Club Centre on Saturday, Oct. 19.

A few years ago Armet noticed local parents make calls for help on social media for costumes.

It was a lightbulb moment for Armet.

“Ideally I thought we could collect them back again so we could do it the following year and it just grew from there.”

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Several hundred costumes are available, including many which have been used by program participants, who are encouraged to donate costumes back the following year.

Costume donation drop-off bins are available at any Vancouver Island Regional Library branch in Nanaimo until Wednesday, Oct 16.

People interested in making donations are asked to submit quality, used costumes stored in a bag and labelled with the size to assist with sorting.

Armet said families “are very thankful” for the initiative.

“Having people not only financially provide for a new costume every year, but also just getting the materials and having all of those things be purchased every year is not great for sustainability,” Armet said.

While costumes for children of all ages will be available, the highest selection of spooky attire appears to serve the seven to 10-year-old demographic, Armet noted.

Costume Boo-tique takes place in unit 2 at Country Club Centre (across from the food court) on Oct. 19 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“We take limited people at a time to give people room as they look for costumes, so their may be a lineup and we’ll be asking for patience as they wait.”

She believes they’ll meet or exceed the 150 people who took advantage of the program last year.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes