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Get rid of your child's excess Halloween candy and help a charity, all at once.
Trick-or-treating is an American Halloween tradition. But what happens when the fun is over, and your kids are left with pounds and pounds of sugary, bad-for-their-teeth candy?
As NPR's The Salt reports, Dr. Chris Kammer, DDS, a dentist from Wisconsin, came up with the solution: A Halloween Candy Buyback program, to save children's teeth and put all that candy to good use. He started by asking kids in his own dental practice to participate, offering $1 per pound of Halloween candy turned in. In 2007, he expanded his efforts nationally, and 300 dentists got involved. "And I decided, wow, this could be the [dentistry profession's] national response to Halloween," Kammer told NPR.
Related: Where to Save Some Money on Scary Good Fast-Food Treats Today
This year, more than 2,500 dentists from around the country signed up to participate in the program — if you're interested in finding a participating dentist near you, check out the website's zip code locater. And when you sell your candy to any one of them, not only will you save your kids from a cavity or two, but you'll also be putting a smile on a U.S. soldier's face — all candy collected via the program gets shipped abroad to U.S. troops as part of the Operation Gratitude care package program. It's a win-win-win.
Related: Ghost-Themed Halloween Treats You'll Die For
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