The day after Halloween is often a chance for children to indulge in candy collected the night before, but for some Santa Clarita children, it’s also a chance to make a few dollars and support troops around the world.
Through Santa Clarita Advanced Dentistry’s 17th annual candy buyback, in partnership with Operation Gratitude, children could sell their candy for $1 a pound, participate in games and even write thank you letters to soldiers.
“We started doing this because we thought that kids are eating a lot of sugar and getting a lot of cavities. So we thought if we could get kids to come and give us their candy, it would be good for us [and them],” said Dr. Kelly Smudde of Santa Clarita Advanced Dentistry. “While they’re here, they get to write letters to the troops, and the troops love that.”
According to Smudde, service members stationed in South Africa came to see the event in action a few years ago, after appreciating the care packages that were given to them. From then on, members of the military have been present to meet the children every year.
“The kids and the troops say that this is the most fun thing they do all year. The troops love receiving letters saying, ‘We miss you,’ and ‘Come home safely.’ In the past, we’ve even had people say, ‘We had your letter up in our tank,’” Smudde said. “Whenever troops are overseas, they get homesick [during the holidays], and seeing that someone from Valencia, California, loves them, is a heartfelt thing they can get.”
Older children, who are in middle school, write longer letters expressing how grateful they are for the troops, according to Smudde.
The incentive for the event is to not only encourage healthy dental habits and more frequent visits to the dentist, but also to give children an opportunity to meet, interact, and even play games with members of the military. But first, they have to walk through a maze of witch-hat ring tossing, spin the wheel to give their best Halloween impressions, and even play table cornhole to earn prizes.
“A lot of little kids don’t ever get to shake a person’s hand, or get to salute or talk to military people. They see these troops, people in uniform, and they get scared. This is a fun way to introduce them to play together,” Smudde said. “That has made all the difference.”
