Putnam native continues spreading Halloween joy

Most people are familiar with the sayings “kids grow up too quickly” or “you’re only a kid once,” but those phrases don’t always apply to everyone.

Jonathan Garcia, 35, calls himself “a kid at heart.”

“I love Halloween and all that goes with it,” said Garcia, a salesman with Beck Auto Group in Palatka for the last three years. “It’s important to make the most out of the holidays and get to participate in the festivities. It’s a great time to dress up and just have fun doing it.”

Garcia and his co-worker, Carole Mahanes, are organizing the sixth annual Jonathan Garcia’s Costumes for Kids, which will take place from 10 a.m. – noon Saturday during a fall festival at the Palatka riverfront.

About 400 costumes in different sizes will be available while they last. Costumes include superheroes, Disney princesses and ninjas.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you how many costumes this event has given away in the past, but I would definitely say thousands,” Garcia said.

The festival, which is free to the public, will include food trucks as well as a princess and superhero meet and greet.

The festival is sponsored by the Police Athletic League, the Lee Conlee House domestic violence center, Take Stock in Children, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and the Palatka Police Department.

The event is in observance of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. To kick off the festival, there will be the 11th annual Pink Walk starting at 8:30 a.m. The walk’s theme is “Together We Fight! #PalatkaStrong.”

Pink Walk T-shirts are available for $20 each while they last. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Putnam First Cancer Foundation.

For details about the cancer awareness walk, call Vonshell Offord at 386-916-6505 or email shell.survivor2012@gmail.com.

Garcia will be at the festival doing what he has enjoyed doing for years: getting children excited about Halloween.

Garcia, who grew up in San Mateo, lives in Orange Park with his wife, Jessica, daughter, Jocelyn, 15, and son, Jace, 4 months, said his idea to give away Halloween costumes came from his past. He said he knows firsthand how it feels to not have a costume, and he wants to make sure children don’t experience that this year.

“When I was a kid, some years, we did not have money for a Halloween costume, and I remember how it made me feel,” he said. “I felt like I was missing out and left out. One year, I was taking my daughter, Jocelyn, then 8, out for trick or treat downtown, and I saw a lot of kids without costumes. And it reminded me how I felt when I was a kid and didn’t have one. So, I had the idea of doing something about it for those kids.”

Garcia said he buys costumes from area stores, usually when they first go on sale. With all of the costumes he purchased, he said, there is sure to be something all kids should love.

“We will also have a mix of kid-friendly costumes and some scary ones, too,” he said.

If people want to contribute to Garcia’s mission, he will gladly accept donations of gently used or new costumes, as well as monetary donations to purchase more costumes. For details, call Garcia at 904-599-6913 or email jonathang541@gmail.com.

“Absolutely,” he said. “We would welcome the help.”

Garcia is looking forward to handing out the costumes Saturday. He is encouraging families to interact with some of the special guests who will show up during the fall festival and costume giveaway.

“We will have a meet and greet with characters this year, where families can take photos with some popular guests such as Spider-Man, Batman and other superheroes, along with Disney princesses Belle and Cinderella,” he said. “It will be during the fall festival so there will be other things to do as well.”

Sticking with his kid-at-heart persona, Garcia said it’s important for people to stay in touch with their inner child and see joy in things.

“There is nothing wrong with retaining the outlook of optimism and joyful hope children have,” he said.