In just two nights, the U.S. Coast Guard Station Juneau’s Haunted Station welcomed more people and collected more food than it did last year.
According to social media posts from the station and the Southeast Alaska Food Bank, the Haunted Station welcomed 1,543 guests and collected 1,636 pounds of food to donate to the food bank. Last year, according to what the Coast Guard posted at the time, there were about 1,100 guests and more than 1,200 pounds of food donated in three days in 2017.
[Photos: U.S. Coast Guard’s Haunted Station]
Darren Adams from the Southeast Alaska Food Bank said in an interview Thursday that the amount of food was actually over 1,400 pounds last year. The increased poundage was “a huge, unexpected surprise,” Adams said.
Even before the donation from the Haunted Station, the Coast Guard was donating to the food bank in October through a program called Feds Feed Families, Adams said. Through this national program, federal agencies collect food in the fall to donate to local food banks. Adams said the Coast Guard had already collected more than 600 pounds in October before the large donation this week from the haunted attraction.
Coast Guard Fireman Jacob Campbell said the Haunted Station has been popular in part because it appeals to all ages and they make it easy to leave the station if someone can’t quite handle the scares. Campbell also said people can tell how much work goes into it. He said they put a lot of hours into it and as of Thursday they were still cleaning up.
“We’re not in there with cheap costumes and half-screams,” Campbell said. “My voice is still coming back from the Haunted Station.”
