will be buying back candy after Halloween this year.
Kids can bring their Halloween candy to the dental office from Nov. 2-5, where they will be paid $1 per pound.
The candy聽will be sent to in California, a program that sends care packages to troops serving overseas.聽Dawn Patrick, patient concierge at Fairlington Dental, said that the candy is used as filler in boxes that mostly include personal cards, games, hygiene products and snacks.
This is the 10th year Fairlington Dental has bought back candy, and the office has donated聽to Operation Gratitude聽since it started the program.
Fairlington Dental will also donate a portion of the candy to the聽,聽Patrick said. The foundation collects candy for a free snack cart for children and families at the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, as well as for聽other hospitals and cancer wards, according to the website.
The dental practice used to buy聽聽but dropped the price聽to $1 per pound as the program became聽more popular, Patrick said. The office also pays for the shipping, which can get pricey with such heavy聽packages.
鈥淏ack then, we were getting about 100 pounds,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow our biggest year has been around 600 pounds.鈥�
The office asks that the donations are capped at five pounds for the buy back program.
Donors also have the option to聽donate their candy聽as an entry in a contest聽where聽groups can win an $100 pizza party for selling back the most candy. Patrick said a group Fairlington mothers聽has won the contest for the past few years, with a group donation of about 35 pounds of candy.
The key for聽eating candy and other foods high in sugar is to do it in moderation, Patrick said, adding that a聽one-time pizza party is much better than eating candy for days or weeks after Halloween.
Fairlington Dental tries to encourage eating candy with xylitol in it instead of sugar, a sweetener that breaks down bacteria instead of feeding it.
Filckr pool photo by Ddimick.
