Another Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving is almost upon us! We dressed in fun costumes, we took children trick-or-treating, we passed out candy to those that came by… and now you’ve had a big pile of leftover candy to deal with. Maybe you allowed your kids to eat a certain amount of candy, but you shuddered to think of the next dentist visit if you allowed them to have free reign of their haul. Or maybe you don’t have kids, but you had a large pile of candy you purchased for trick-or-treaters, and it’s looking more and more temping as the days go by. But it would be such a waste to throw out perfectly good candy! What can you do?
Families at George A. Jackson Elementary School had a generous solution—they collected candy to donate to charity. This is the second year that EAC Network has received a donation of Halloween candy from Jackson Elementary School. Students collected bags upon bags of candy to donate to EAC Network’s children’s programs. The candy was distributed to programs like Supervised Visitation, which offers non-custodial parents access to visit with their children, and Alternatives for Youth (AFY), which diverts PINS youth from the juvenile justice system and improves family functioning by providing home-based crisis intervention and community resources. Some of the children in our programs may not have access to such treats, or merely could use a bright spot in their day that a piece of candy would bring.
“Our Jackson children and parents were really eager to participate in this community service drive and fill our ‘candy can,'” said Divya Balachandar, MD, Community Service Chair at Jackson Elementary. “We feel it’s an important lesson to teach our kids from a young age to be socially conscientious and mindful of others who have different needs from our own. We are so happy to be able to donate candy to EAC Network and help in their mission to serve children.”
We are so grateful to the families at Jackson Elementary School for their thoughtful donation!
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Sarah Muller is the Development & Marketing Assistant for EAC Network. She graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.A. in English.
