Deemed by some to be too old for trick-or-treating, members of the Manhattan High School Thespian Troupe didn’t let age deter them from going to strangers’ houses while dressed up. Except, these students weren’t “trick-or-treating” for candy, in fact, they weren’t even wanting things for themselves. They were doing their annual TOTSKCE.

“TOTSKCE stands for Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat. Thespians does it every year around halloween. We go ‘trick-or-treating’ for canned goods and then donate them to the Flint Hills Breadbasket,” sophomore Isaac Sorell said.

Participants dressed up, split into three groups and headed out to neighborhoods around Manhattan asking people to donate non-perishable foods.

Sometimes having trick-or-treaters on a night other than Halloween is jarring to people, but doesn’t mean they’re unwilling to participate and spread the kindness.

“At first when we showed up at their doors, people were confused,” senior Lauren Fischer said. “But once we explained why we were there, they were happy to donate.”

The kindness and hospitality didn’t stop at just donating food.

“Every house we went to, we were invited inside,” senior Katrina Yau  said. “They were all so friendly.”

While many of the houses visited by participants were of strangers, the students did get to have a little fun with people they knew.

“The funniest moment of the night was [senior] Adam Hupp’s face when we showed up at his house dressed in costumes,” Sorell said.

Despite the warm fun,  the TOTSKCE participants had to deal with the cold–but the weather didn’t impact them too much.

“A lot of people thought it was cold, but most people just wore jackets over their costumes, so the weather wasn’t too much of an issue,” Yau said.

After a cool night of trick-or-treating, the participants came back to MHS to pose with their hauls and celebrate a successful night.

“We spend two hours out collecting cans. We collected around 150 food items this year,” Sorell said.