CANNON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Halloween came early this year. A neighborhood near Rockford hosted a trick-or-treat event that was accessible for kids with mobility, sensory and neurological disabilities.

One in 10 kids have a disability preventing them from doing things like trick-or-treating but this one-of-a-kind event gave kids the opportunity to participate in an accessible way.

Google just released the 25 most-searched Halloween costumes for 2025

“The sidewalk is flat, there’s no bumps, we don’t have to pick up the wheelchair,” said Amanda Engstrom who brought her son, Alex, who uses a wheelchair. “On Halloween, we sometimes have to skip houses just cause we can’t get there.”

Houses all around Old Mission Drive NE and Danboro Avenue NE had tables set up at the curb with Halloween candy, snacks, stickers and sensory-friendly toys.

“I I think just to be able to see kids that are the same age as them … and just be a part of it like everyone else,” said Engstrom. “Their life isn’t always the easiest so anything that makes our life that much easier is a joy.”

Kids like Alex and many others got to celebrate Halloween their way. 

“The kids are having a great time. The families are having amazing times,” said organizer, Curtis Gross.

Gross, who lives in the neighborhood, was inspired to do an accessible trick-or-treat event by a similar Canadian movement called Treat Accessibly, which holds multiple Halloween villages yearly.

disABILITY PRIDE: How accessible is West Michigan?

“It’s just a great way for the kids who don’t typically get to go celebrate Halloween because of the stairs and the big crowds to spend an afternoon getting candy and getting a bit of that normalcy,” he said. “I definitely would love to see this spread throughout the country. Would love for our event to get bigger.”

Gross partnered with Anni’s Army Foundation to bring this event to his neighborhood. Anni’s Army is a pediatric brain cancer foundation raising money for research and to financially support families fighting cancer.

For co-founder and president, Mark Meier, this event hits close to home. His daughter Annika was diagnosed with cancer at 12 years old. She now sits in a wheelchair at age 16, still fighting and still smiling. 

“She always just had a giving heart, I mean an amazing giving heart,” said Meier. “(The foundation) was really fueled by Anni but it was also fueled by my wife and I having long sleepless nights in the hospital and not wanting other families to feel the same thing that we were going through.”

Meier says even while fighting their own battle, helping others has become the family’s mission.

“You don’t know the challenges unless you live something like these families have and like we have so to be able to give back to them even though we’re in the middle of our fight, it’s just something that’s really important for my family and myself,” he said. “It’s about the kids. There’s even adults out here who are trick-or-treating because maybe they didn’t have the experience as a young one because it was too overwhelming for them.”

Nancy Vaccaro, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, passed out candy Saturday. This was her first time participating in the event and she said it was a much more calm setting compared to Halloween night. 

“In this area on Halloween, it actually gets so busy,” she said. “We probably go through like 400 pieces of candy.”

That’s why, she says, it is especially nice for people to see what they can do to make it better for everyone, to break the stigma and to raise awareness.

How accessible are Lake Michigan’s beaches?

Some neighbors say the event opens their eyes to something they’d never considered before. 

“We had never thought of it before it was brought up to us and proposed to us,” said Steve Sochanek, a neighborhood dad who has passed out candy both years. “I think if your family isn’t immediately affected by it, it probably isn’t at the forefront of your mind, but it should be.”

As a Halloween lover, he says it is important to give everyone a chance to participate. He says it’s not about how many kids come, but the smiles that do.

“You can tell it makes their day, their week or even their months, to be able to take part of it,” said Sochanek.

Organizers are already inviting people to next year’s accessible trick-or-treat event hoping every year gets bigger and better.