Happy Halloween all!
This day is about the wee people. You might believe this to be a pagan holiday, so let the youngens wear a princess costume or a policeman costume. The youngens do not need to have their hopes dashed at the tender age of five, because you may believe something different. They simply want to romp around and get some candy. Might as well tell them about the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus while you're at it!
As parents, we are to strengthen our children. We build strong character and morals and teach them right from wrong and to do a good deed when the opportunity presents itself. When my kids were little, and the treats from Halloween surpassed the 'this-will-last-til-NEXT-Halloween,' we found an orthodontist who did a candy buy-back program. This ortho would give the kids $1/pound of candy and send the candy to troops overseas. It was a win-win. The first year, they lined their tiny pockets with a whopping ten dollars.
And then . . . the Marinello wheels began turning! We had held car washes and cosmic bowling events to raise money for The Children's Dream Fund. Now . . . we had our sights set on next Halloween and asking other kids for their excess to turn in to make cash for sick kids. The second year, we confiscated over $600 worth of sweets. The third year, the word was out there . . . and people were calling me!
The ortho actually called me into his office and said I was abusing his kindness. I told him that if he was truly kind, he wouldn't care. He tried to cut off the third year's donations, but I called to arms some of those folks I mentioned in the past two days and together . . . for the sake of sick kids battling serious and life-threatening illnesses . . . we managed to raise over $1100!!! That's more than half a ton of candy that sat in my living room waiting to go to the ortho in dribs and drabs so as not to frazzle the good doctor! It was glorious!
So you see, Halloween doesn't have to be a pagan ritual. It can be an event that you turn into a pay-it-forward sort of activity. There are many ways to alter the plethora of sugary confections you obtain. Have a little fun with it ~ while teaching the kids a wonderful lesson!
The orthodontist now has a $10 limit on buy backs. Booooooo!
We loved this program. We had our Girl Scout Troop turn in their candy to this orthodontist, received cash, which in turn we bought Teddy Bears & donated these Teddy Bears to Shriners in Tampa. It truly was a win, win. Our military got candy, the orthodontist matched the dollar amount that he gave out to the charity of his choice, Shriner patients received gifts, & my Scouts learned how to give back to the community & they loved this program. We did this for three years. So sad the orthodontist put a cap on what you could turn in, for our last year, we the Scouts had left over candy that he wouldn't take for it was over his limit per person
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Said one of my deviant helpers! Thank you to you and your girl scouts for assisting us! You do good stuff!
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