Getting your kids to give up their Halloween candy can be like pulling teeth, but dentist Joseph Lapinski manages by convincing them it's for a good cause.
For the past few years, Lapinski has offered a Halloween buyback program. Bring in candy after trick-or-treating, and he'll substitute gift cards to Sixteen Handles, a local frozen yogurt shop.
"It's a way to support another local business," he said.
In return, the sweets get shipped to American troops.
He'd heard of the idea before deciding to adopt it himself. Over the last few years, the amount brought in has grown so that he collected 40 pounds of sweets last year.
Lapinski isn't alone.
Fred Dreher, a Ballston Spa dentist, offers a similar program for his patients.
He gives them $1 per pound.
"The patients really like it. The kids are excited about it," said Crystal White, his patient coordinator who runs the program. "They feel they are doing something good."
Besides rewarding individual patients, the dental practice also accepts candy from local elementary schools that offer their own incentives, like homework passes, for those donations.
"Most of the candy we do get comes from elementary schools," White said.
Last year, the programs at Dreher's office resulted in 1,890 pounds of candy being donated, with most of it coming from schools.
That candy too gets shipped overseas to troops, though the types that melt are brought to the Hospitality Room for military personnel at Albany International Airport and veteran organizations.
"Last year it was really huge," White said. "It was an entire room full of candy."
When Lapinski first decided to try the buyback program a few years ago, he said, he had a patient whose son was going into the military. His wife talked to the mother, and they arranged to send the extra sweets to the troops.
Now he works with an organization called Operation Gratitude to deliver the candy to American soldiers.
Children bringing in up to 10 pounds of candy can earn a $5 gift card. He has never had anyone bring in more than that but would add a second card if they did.
He's not expecting children to give up every Butterfinger and Snickers they get while trick-or-treating.
"I'm sure they have eaten their share of it, but it's also a way for them to give back," he said. "This isn't about taking every stitch of candy away from the kid. It's 'Enjoy your fill and let's do something nice for others as well.' "
Most trick-or-treaters haul in far more candy than they should eat, he said, and often they grow bored with it.
The children are usually a little reluctant to hand over part of their stash but like the idea of getting frozen yogurt instead.
"They are a little reserved when they have to do the handover," he said.
He also said patients have been good about not taking all the good stuff and sending second-rate snacks to the troops.
"There is really good candy coming through here," he said. "It's not all the bottom-of-the-barrel stuff."
Source: http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Dentists-make-sweet-donations-from-patients-6569135.php
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