Children dashed from car to car filling their Halloween baskets with candy from festively decorated vehicles and their equally festive owners at the Community Youth Empowerment trunk or treat.

The organization hosted their fifth annual trunk or treat at the Wareham VFW, Saturday, Oct. 26. Community members from across Wareham attended the event which Brianna Gamble, the organizations Chief of Staff, described as the most successful to date.

“You can see the support,” Gamble said. “They support the youth, they support our organization and our mission to just bring positivity back into this community.”

The youth empowerment group’s primary goal is teaching young people life skills they may not get in school or at home. But Jowaun Gamble, the group's founder, said events like this one encourage the adolescents they work with to “give back.”

“Our mission really is to uplift youth,” Jowaun Gamble said. “We focus on youth leadership and development and they help us facilitate and organize these types of events.”

People from a wide range of backgrounds came out to help on Saturday. Jowaun Gamble, who is also an adjunct professor at Bridgewater State University, invited some of his students. Rory O’Connor and Madison Stevens saw the invite and arrived dressed as pirates and sporting a jolly-roger on the back of their car.

“I wanted to help out,” Stevens said. “It was great to help with the kids and see everyone in costumes.”

Another attendee, Kevin Fernandes coached several of the youth empowerment team members when they played in the Junior Basketball Association. Fernandes brought his food truck along, Kev’s Kitchen and served hamburgers, hot dogs and fries to all those in attendance.

“I was so proud of them, they're doing something that nobody had even thought about doing around here,” Fernandes said. “They’re giving back.”

Near the end of the event, attendees took a break from exchanging candy to watch Myrna Amado, founder of the Ashley Faye organization present a donation check to the community youth team. The Ashley Faye organization hosts the Ashley Faye Funday annually in August and donates the proceeds from the event to various causes and groups in Wareham.

“We thought it was a great organization and we needed to donate to them,” Amado said.

Brianna Gamble said the organization hopes to repeat the success of this year's trunk or treat next year and continue to provide a place for the community to gather.

“It brings everyone together,” said Jeannine Hunt, a Wareham resident who attended the event dressed in a Great Gatsby theme. “I think it's better to have community and everyone together in one place, than walking around separately.”

Hunt said she’s impressed with the organization's commitment to their events because she recognizes the work required to put them together.

“It's a lot of work for them, they have jobs,” Hunt said. “Community Youth Empowerment, I am so proud of them I could cry right now. For them to continue this, it's amazing”