Be a Halloween Hero: Del Ray Costume Drive Helps Alexandria Children Dress Up
Donate a child’s chosen costume or give a gently used outfit a second Halloween through Del Ray’s community collection.
ALEXANDRIA, VA — That Halloween costume your child has outgrown could still have a little magic left in it. In Del Ray, neighbors have two ways to help make sure Alexandria children have something special to wear this Halloween.
The Del Ray Business Association is inviting residents to fulfill a child’s costume request or donate gently used costumes that will help stock a free costume shop for children in need in the West End.
“BE A HALLOWEEN HERO!” Visit Del Ray wrote in its Instagram appeal, asking the community to help ensure that every child has a Halloween costume.
Help a child dress as someone they choose
Each fall, the association works with the Alexandria Boys & Girls Club, Community Lodgings and the Alexandria Domestic Violence Safehouse to fulfill costume requests from local children.
For this part of the drive, donors can provide a costume a child has selected. Visit Del Ray directs those interested to the donation link in its Instagram profile bio.
That chance to choose is part of what makes the effort meaningful to its supporters.
“One of our favorite things to do each year is get costumes for kids in the community. We love that they get to pick them out themselves and get to be what they want to be,” Passionately Pets wrote in a comment on the announcement.
Give an outgrown costume another turn
Residents who have gently used costumes to share can leave them in the marked collection bin at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, at Mount Vernon and Oxford avenues.
Those donations will help fill a free “costume shop” for children in need in Alexandria’s West End, according to the announcement. For families sorting through last year’s Halloween outfits, it is a simple way to pass along something another child can enjoy.
Ahead of Del Ray’s Halloween celebration
The collection comes as the neighborhood prepares for the Del Ray Halloween Parade on Sunday, October 25, at 2 p.m. Readers can find more about the celebration in The Zebra’s guide to Halloween in Del Ray.
How to Help
- Fulfill a child’s costume request: Follow the donation link in the bio of @visitdelray on Instagram.
- Donate a gently used costume: Use the marked bin at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, Mount Vernon and Oxford avenues, Del Ray.
- Save the parade date: Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 2 p.m.
The social media announcement does not list a donation deadline or the free costume shop’s location and hours. Check with Visit Del Ray for those details.
