Skeletons for St. Jude program raises money through over-the-top decorating schemes
Oct. 22—This time of year, Stephanie Babich Mihleder's property in Murrysville has earned its own nickname — "the unicorn house."
That's thanks to a giant inflatable unicorn skeleton — complete with rainbow mane and tail — that is merely the centerpiece of her front yard decorating scheme, which includes more than 25 features ranging from a skeleton flamingo to a couple of creepy dolls on a rickety swing.
"I love Halloween so much," said Mihleder, who has worked in the nonprofit industry for years and recently started her own business, Spark Consulting. She combined both to benefit others this year, raising money through the Skeletons for St. Jude program.
Across the country each year, hundreds of families sign up to decorate their yard (and include a lot of skeletons) for Halloween and collect donations to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This year, more than 440 households are part of the program with the goal to raise $100,000, which would put the nonprofit's overall fundraising at a half-million dollars since 2020.
Last year, Mihleder met the Ruggieri family of Southwest Greensburg, who were taking part in the program.
"We connected immediately," she said. "Mr. Ruggieri is a special-
education teacher, and at the time I was also working with special-
needs kids. I wanted to do something nonprofit-related to launch my business and also to do something for Murrysville and St. Jude."
The nonprofit originated in North Carolina, and its website provides signage that participants can download to display. The signs include a QR code to simplify donating via smartphone.
Mihleder is particularly proud that, outside of the inflatables, all of her decorations are homemade.
"My husband thought I was insane," she said. "I came home with a little picnic table that someone was throwing away and was like, 'Well, I'll put a spider web on that.' "
She threw a fall pizza party for a group of friends who managed to take an old sofa, a children's beach tent and contractor garbage bags to create what she lovingly referred to as "The Trash Spider." It sits atop her roof, almost as high up as the 20-foot inflatable pumpkin stack her husband recently bought to add to their menagerie.
Mihleder also created a mini scavenger hunt for children that takes them through the yard to find all of the little spooky touches she's put in place.
Susie Long of Latrobe can attest to how deadly the decorating bug can be. She and her husband, Delbert, participate in Skeletons for St. Jude, and already had begun securing real estate in their neighbor's yard for their collection last year.
Is she adding to it this year?
"Oh yeah, we added a horse, we added things to our roof and we have a werewolf this year," she said with a laugh. "The whole program is really great."
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Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
