Too much candy? Donate (some of it) to a good cause

So Halloween's over and now you have bags of candy -- literally bags -- lying around promising to do some serious damage to your kids' teeth and your waistline. What to do? Eat it? Throw it away? Put it in the garage and forget about it? We at WalletPop think we've found an answer to this most vexing of parental dilemmas: Donate your extra bags of Halloween candy to a charitable cause.

Send your extra candy overseas -- Several organizations send donations of all kinds to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Gratitude will happily take your donations of extra bagged candy to distribute to troops (find more info about procedure here and scroll to the bottom of the page.). Operation Shoebox will take your candy - also any extra socks or old cell phones you care to donate.

Some local dentist offices will buy back your extra candy for $1 a pound, and ship it themselves to U.S. troops abroad. Check here to see if dentists in your area are offering this program.

Ronald McDonald House charities welcomes donations of your extra candy (provided it's in the original wrapper, of course). Check its website for specific giving policies at the Ronald McDonald House near you.

Your local Meals on Wheels charity, which takes meals to housebound seniors, will take your extra candy. Click here to find a local chapter.

As always, women's shelters, churches, synagogues and other places of worship will accept donations of extra candy. The PTA at your child's school may also be happy to have your (bagged) extra candy for use in harvest and holiday festivals.

Probably best to involve your kids in this operation, since while they won't object to sending half their candy to a worthy cause, they will definitely object to losing all of their swag.



Thanks to CoolMomPicks.