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Fact: No matter how much you, your spouse, and your kids love candy, no one needs as much of the stuff as our little ones gather on Halloween. I mean, my kid is only 2, and we’ve got enough candy in this house to last us until next Halloween.
My waistline (and my husband’s blood-sugar levels) need help, but throwing it in the trash is just not going to happens (except for those Smarties – where do people even find those these days?).
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So, you can imagine my happiness at finding out that we can donate the candy to the people who put their lives on the line for the rest of us every single day.
It turns out there are a number of charitable organizations will take your leftover candy and ship it to troops deployed overseas. One of them, Operation Gratitude, has a bunch of drop-off centers around the country (you can search by zip code on their website) – from there, it gets hurried along to both servicemen/servicewomen and to first responders.
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Funnily enough, many of their drop-off locations are in dentists’ offices. Not only does that remind you why you should be making your candy someone else’s problem, but sometimes those dentists will even pay you $1 for every pound of candy you turn in.
Since 2003, the group has mailed around 2.5 million care packages full of delicious sugary treats.
If there’s not a drop-off that’s convenient for you, though, you can always think about a local food pantry or homeless shelter, or check with your local charities to see if anyone does something similar.
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Either way, for the sake of your waistline, your teeth, and your sanity after too many days of sugared-up kids, find somewhere to take the stuff.
I’m on my way right now.
