Many of our patients know about the “Treats For Troops” program at Future of Dentistry. We collect extra Halloween candy every year to donate to U.S. military and veterans. This year, we collected 625 pounds of candy for “Treats For Troops”!

625 pounds is a record-breaker for us! It’s about 15 pounds more than last year. You may be wondering, how did we end up with that huge amount of candy?

The answer is that we’re part of a wonderful community. Local families set aside some of the candy from their trick-or-treating, to donate to the troops. 

Kids make a small sacrifice by giving up some candy, and the troops receive a positive message of support along with the treats! Some children bring a card or drawing along with their candy. We love seeing the kids’ personalized messages, and we encourage families to include these items.

We’d like to thank all the families who contributed candy. Special recognition to the following the schools, which collected hundreds of pounds of candy: Greenwood School of Wakefield, Killam School of Reading, and Acera School of Winchester. The families at these schools did an AMAZING job.

The tasty treats will go to active-duty military serving overseas, as well as local troops and veterans. We also send some toothbrushes to the troops.

At Future of Dentistry, we love this program for two reasons:

• It’s a great way to show our troops and veterans we appreciate them
• It’s a chance for children to give back
• Many families end up with tons of leftover candy from trick-or-treating. It’s usually a lot more sugar than parents want their children to consume! “Treats For Troops” means kids have a little less candy – which is great for their teeth and their overall health.

We’d also like to thank our partners in this program: Melrose Wakefield Saugus Veteran Services, Operation Gratitude, and Paula Berg.