For years, Ray and Christine Stachurski have turned their Dearborn home into a Halloween stop with a second purpose: raising money for Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit. The family’s cleaning-business website says it has raised more than $30,000 for animals and its local shelter since 2020. WDIV’s Oct. 9 report connects that cumulative figure to the family’s annual Halloween display and describes a tradition that grew from a single donation box.
Christine Stachurski told WDIV that the family started collecting money in 2020, when pandemic restrictions meant they could not volunteer. They put out a box to see what it could raise. The first effort brought in $1,700, she said, and the family decided to keep going. FOX 2 Detroit also reported that first-year figure in 2021, when it covered the display and invited viewers to support the shelter.
The fundraiser developed into a seasonal event. WDIV reported that the family collected drop-in donations and sold cider and donuts, and that visitors came from around the area to see the decorations and support the cause. Stachurski told the station that setting up the display takes about a week or two. The family’s own page includes a Halloween fundraising graphic dated Oct. 31, 2024, showing $6,207 raised that year. That dated result is one part of the longer record, not a yearly average or a total for 2026.
Friends for Animals’ October 2024 impact page also listed a Halloween fundraiser at 3421 Grindley Park, the family’s Dearborn address, and said the cider, donuts and pumpkin bundles were offered nightly through October, with proceeds going to the shelter. That organization-side record documents an earlier season; it does not establish a 2026 event total. Together, the family’s page, the shelter’s listing and WDIV’s recent interviews show how the fundraiser grew and where its support was directed.
The shelter’s president and chief executive, Cory Keller, told WDIV that the effort helped bring neighbors together around animals in their community. The Stachurskis’ support is directed to Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit, based in Dearborn. The organization provides animal care and adoption services. The family’s stated aim has been to help the shelter through a tradition neighbors can take part in, whether they stop to see the decorations or make a donation.
The tradition is changing after this season. WDIV reported that 2026 would be the last year the family planned to go all out with the Halloween display. Christine said age, busy schedules and the work of putting it up had made the project harder to manage. The family did not say it would stop supporting the shelter; instead, it described a different way to continue.
The next phase is tied to Beacon Cleaning, the family-run business. Christine told WDIV that the company plans to donate 10 percent of sales from new cleaning jobs to help families who need food for their pets. She said the goal is to help people keep their animals rather than surrender them when household costs become difficult. That program is a plan the family described, not a result the news report said had already been delivered.
The Oct. 9 WDIV story reported that the family planned to hand out cider and donuts that Friday evening, with the proceeds benefiting the shelter. It did not provide a closing tally for that night. The more-than-$30,000 figure is the family’s cumulative amount raised over the years; it should not be read as the result of the 2026 evening event. The family’s cleaning-business page supports the long-running total, while WDIV supplies the latest account of the display and the plan to continue giving.
The story’s two milestones are modest but concrete: a first donation box that brought in $1,700, and a family decision to carry the same animal-support goal into a business they already run. The Halloween display may no longer be a full-scale annual project after 2026, but the Stachurskis say the giving will continue. For families facing pet-food costs, the planned donations are meant to help keep animals at home; for the shelter, the earlier fundraiser has already provided years of community support.
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