As a mom in the wellness field, Halloween pulls me in two totally opposite directions. As a mom, I love this holiday because my kids get to dress up as whatever character they love at the time, and I get to watch them as they happily go from house to house filling their bags with candy. As a wellness professional, every bit of my body protests this holiday, which is built on the foundation of kids getting as much candy as possible, and often eating it until the point in which they’re sick. I’m just completely stuck as to how happy (or upset) I should really be!
That is until I heard about a Halloween Candy Drive some of my local elementary schools are doing. These schools will start promoting the Halloween drive about a week before Halloween. They’ll encourage their students to collect as much candy as they possibly can. The catch is, they ask the students to bring the candy to school in exchange for a different type of goodie. The goodies range from homework passes to little trinkets; whatever motivates the student and is within the school’s budget.
But it gets better! The candy is then sent to an organization that can use it. For some schools, they separate the chocolate candy from the non-chocolate candy. The chocolate candy goes to a local shelter to be used as decorations on the gingerbread houses the children make for Chirstmas (brilliant!), and the non-chocolate candy goes to our soldiers overseas. Other schools donate it directly to shelters, children’s hospitals, or other organizations who can use it in a way to benefit their clients, which is a much better solution than a child in a candy coma in your home.
I encourage you to present the idea of a Halloween Candy Drive with your school. Let your little goblin or ghost enjoy a few pieces and them teach them the lesson of how to give to a greater cause. It’s a win for everyone involved!
Today we feature OWG guest blogger and childhood obesity consultant, Melodie Griffin. Melodie’s passion lies in the prevention of childhood obesity through the school and early learning settings. All programs Melodie promotes are fully approved by her home based lab rats, five year old son, Howie, and two year old daughter, Hope.
