COLUMN: Give up your candy, help our troops

Hey there, trick or treaters ... Want to get your hands on some glow-in-the dark dental floss?

It’s going to be a trade-off, but if you’re willing to give away some of this year’s Halloween candy stash, you could have fun flossing in the dark while sweetening the holidays for U.S. troops this year.

For the fifth year in a row, the Kalispell Kidds dentist office is participating in a Halloween Candy Buy Back Program. The office will “buy back” kids’ Halloween candy from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2. In exchange, kids will receive $2 per pound (up to 5 pounds), a dental health hygiene kit containing glow-in-the-dark floss, a toothbrush, and some natural sugar xylitol candy.

The dental office sorts the candy and mails it to a California-based program called Operation Gratitude, which will repackage it and ship it to U.S. troops overseas during the holidays. Kids will also have the opportunity to donate the toothbrush they receive in their hygiene kit to the troops.

Last year, Kalispell KIDDS collected more than 200 pounds of candy. Each year, the dentist office also invites the dandy candy contributors to sign a U.S. flag and then sends it overseas to be flown above a designated location. The flags are then returned to the office where they are given a place of honor.

Additionally, manufacturers of products made from the natural sugar xylitol and Tess Oral Health hygiene are working with dental offices nationwide to reach the goal of sending 100,000 toothbrushes along with the Halloween candy to soldiers overseas.

According to its website, Operation Gratitude is a volunteer-based nonprofit, funded entirely by private donations, that annually delivers 150,000 care packages to troops, first responders, veterans and Wounded Warriors. To date, the organization has sent 1,311,860 packages and has set a new goal of reaching 2 million.

Kalispell KIDDS is located at 1252 N. Meridian Road. For more information, call the office at 756-1142.

Just a reminder that today marks the end of daylight saving time for most of the United States, including Montana. Hopefully, you’ve already set your clocks back and enjoyed either an extra hour of sleep or extra cup of coffee or tea this morning — a small concession as the days begin to dim and dusk is no longer delayed on the way to winter.

Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.