Window-washing superheroes bring smiles to children's hospital on Halloween

You usually see them taking on the bad guys in your favorite comic books and movies. But on Halloween, your favorite superheroes took a break from their usual crime-fighting duties to spend some time at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

For patients at the hospital, smiles are sometimes hard to come by. But on Halloween, it’s a different story.

“He saw them as soon as we were pulling in,” said Jose Luna, whose son is having a procedure done at Rady Children’s on Halloween. “He was all excited. He was over there trying to take pictures, so I grabbed my phone to take pictures with them.”

For the last seven years, crews with A Plus Window Cleaning have spent every Halloween dressing up as superheroes to put a positive spin on the time the young patients spend at the hospital.

"He was excited. He was running up and down,” said Celia Espinoza, whose son was having a check-up in the Oncology Unit.

The costumes employees pick out reflect some of their favorite superheroes, A Plus Window Cleaning said. And this doesn't just happen in San Diego. Window washers dress up in costume for young patients at children's hospitals in cities nationwide.

In 2022, Rady Children's provided care for 281,924 children — 17,783 were in-patient admissions.

“They can't go out and celebrate Halloween like other kids, so we bring it to them,” Dennis Dwyer, the owner of A Plus Window Washing, said.

Each year, these local window washers suit up and spend the day with the children.

“We love it when they come up and give us a hug and take pictures with us, and we see them smile a lot. That brings joy to my heart,” Dwyer said.

Captain America, Spiderman, Thor and even Superman were there. Even though it's just washing windows and playing a part, they say that seeing all the faces — young and old — light up makes it worth every second.

“We're going to do this until we're no longer cleaning windows,” Dwyer said.