MONROE — When Marta Prahl moved to Monroe in 2021 to take over an American Family Insurance agency office here, she gathered her staff to brainstorm ideas for giving back to her new hometown.

“My team and I were trying to find ways just to help give back to the community in some ways other than just making donations,” said Prahl. “We wanted to find creative ways to give of our time too.”

And so, they came up with a positively ghoulish idea — creating a new Halloween Costume Exchange, where those with old costumes can donate them and kids who need them can pick one out to take home.

As the mother of three kids, Prahl knows all too well that costumes are expensive for kids and parents and typically only get used once. So, the idea of sharing them seemed like a good fit.

The idea really took off, and the office held a kickoff event — replete with treats, of course — on September 29. The rack of costumes at the insurance agency has continued to grow since then. And throughout the weeks leading up to Halloween night, they will continue to accept donations — kids’ costumes only — at the office, 109 W. 8th Street.

There, parents can drop off any “gently used” costumes and kids can peruse the donations for something they would like to wear for the city Halloween festivities, which include a parade, trunk or treat on the square, and of course, trick-or-treating door to door.

“They (kids and parents) do not need to bring a costume to pick one up,” she added.

Prahl said she hopes the event grows in the future, saying “this could be something we could really stamp our name on.”

Indeed, she said the Monroe library also had a costume exchange earlier in the year and that officials there even donated some of their unused costumes to the new effort. Next year, Prahl said, she hopes to partner with the library and combine their efforts into one big, city-wide exchange.

“There have been a lot of donations and a lot of gratitude,” she said. “It’s a small thing but for families it can mean a lot.”