Support Our Troops Through the Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program

With Halloween around the corner, many of us are anticipating stockpiles of sugary sweets in our households.

As an alternative to consuming all this candy, consider donating it to our troops overseas. You may think, do we really want to send all that junk food to Afghanistan and throughout the world? Sure! Everyone enjoys a treat! And truth be told, the troops themselves don't eat all this candy...much of it they enjoy sharing in the communities they patrol.

The Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program has partnered with Operation Gratitude and local dental practices to channel your candy stockpile to our troops. Local dentists "buy" back Halloween candy in exchange for cash or other items. The candy is shipped to Operation Gratitude and other U.S. Military support groups and in turn it is sent overseas, to children of deployed service members, wounded warriors, veterans and first responders.

There are nearly a dozen local Ventura County dental practices participating in this program. Just visit www.halloweencandybuyback.com and enter your zip code for these or other locations throughout the L.A./Ventura County area. I see Moorpark, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Oxnard, Newbury Park, Ventura and Woodland Hills dentists on the list.

I called several of these practices in Moorpark and Thousand Oaks and they are offering $1 to $2 per pound plus raffle prizes.  Each practice has their own buy-back incentives. so make sure to call to learn more about their program and related time frames (usually the first several days after Halloween).