Coalition uses holiday activity to bring community together

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To interns at the Community Relations Coalition, or CRC, Halloween isn’t just about parties and crazy costumes — it’s also about breaking barriers within the East Lansing community.

The CRC organized its first pumpkin carving event, nicknamed “BYOP,” for the East Lansing and MSU communities Sunday at the Orchard Street Pump House, 368 Orchard St.

Sungmo Son, a genetics senior and intern at CRC, said the coalition’s pumpkin carving event helped change how MSU students are perceived to permanent East Lansing residents.

“I think it’s about interacting with the residents — the long-term residents especially,” Son said.

“They have stereotypes and different judgements on students and (this event) helps to kind of break those unnecessary thoughts. This gives them an idea of who we are.”

CRC intern coordinator Olivia Seifert said the event’s title, short for “Bring Your Own Pumpkin,” was meant to help engage MSU students.

“We thought some of the college students might think that’s kind of clever,” Seifert said.

The purpose of the coalition is to bring a sense of unity to the East Lansing community., which is what the organization was originally created to do, Seifert said.

“We want to build relationships between the people in the neighborhoods we really focus on,” Seifert said. “We think that people are more considerate of each other when they can place a face with a name with the people that live on their street or in their neighborhood.”

Seifert said BYOP was meant to promote seasonal fun while helping permanent residents and students engage with one another.

“Our goal was to have something that was fall fun,” Seifert said.

“We wanted something that would be interesting to both students and long-term residents. We wanted something that would draw a really diverse crowd and get people hanging out on Sunday afternoon together.”

Danae Voss, an English senior and intern at CRC, said the coalition aimed to inform different types of people about the event in hopes of getting a diverse crowd.

“We advertised to students and to families and empty-nesting old couples,” Voss said. “Hopefully we’re going to get a good mix of students and families coming out.”

Seifert said BYOP was essentially a no-cost event, with Meijer giving a $50 donation toward pumpkins and carving supplies and Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns donating three gallons of cider and five dozen doughnuts.

“As a nonprofit, we’re always looking to partner with local organizations,” Seifert said.

“We can help get some publicity for them and then make our events low-cost, so it’s not too expensive to put on these events.”

Although Son is planning on going into a health-related field, he said he loves organizing an event like BYOP because he wants to integrate his love for children with his future career.

“One of my future goals is starting a foundation related to health,” Son said. “What I want to do is really focus on education (for) kids and to inform people and be a resource. Kids are the best place to start.”

Seifert said the event’s purpose comes down to neighbors better understanding one another.

“We feel like people are better neighbors when they know each other,” Seifert said.

“At this type of event, we hope to bring people together that live next door or across the street but haven’t struck up a conversation before. We really hope to get neighbors talking with each other and getting to know each other’s stories.”

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