Share your Halloween Candy with Soldiers Around the World

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MI — Before you nosedive into your Halloween candy supply this year, consider sharing some with American soldiers stationed all across the world. Dr. P. Steven Wainess will pay you $1 a pound (Ka-ching!) for your Halloween stash and send the collected candy haul to Operation Gratitude, an organization which sends care packages to servicemen and servicewomen.

This is the sixth year Wainess has organized the wildly popular Halloween Candy Buy Back event, which takes place Sunday, Nov. 6 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m (30140 Harper, Suite 100, St. Clair Shores). Last year, over 900 pounds of candy was collected. Can you help them beat that feat this year?

Wainess explains, "You don’t have a lot of chances to do something good and this is a big chance to show your appreciation for the men and women who keep us safe.” The Buy Back is much more than just trading cash for candy bars. Wainess says “Children at the Buy Back draw pictures and write cards for soldiers, which we include in the care packages we send. Veterans and active duty servicemen and servicewomen also attend and bring military vehicles for kids to explore. We even have a Civil War reenactment actor."

Here is one important candy message for both soldiers and civilians during this candy crunching time of year: When pressed if there was a magical number of times you can floss to 100% eradicate the effects of Kit Kat over-consumption, Wainess answered “No. Lots of brushing. Lots of flossing. I tell parents to give kids some candy for a couple days, then get rid of it. When it lingers is when it’s a problem. So drop it off with us at the Buy Back.”

Patch file photo