Every year at church my kids assemble and take home “Trick or Treat for UNICEF” boxes. We have always only put our own money in, because really, how many of your neighbors are prepared with money rather than candy or trinkets? This year for some reason I was particularly struck by the reasonable amounts of dollars that would provide water and nutrition for children in the developing world and the irony of giving empty calories to often overfed (but possibly still undernourished) American children. And I have tried many different “healthy” snacks, or non-food items like pencils, but I can’t stand the disappointed looks from recipients, so…
This year we will hand out only one fun-size chocolate with a card my younger daughter wrote, “You’re helping kids in need just by stopping here. Because for every trick-or-treater who comes here, we donate 25 cents to UNICEF. Thank You!!” Next to that she pasted the facts from the back of the “Trick or Treat for UNICEF” box: “6 cents provides water for 1 thirsty kid; $2 provides nutrition for 1 hungry kid; $44 provides school supplies to 20 kids; $112 provides emergency blankets to 37 kids; $200 immunizes 550 kids against measles.”
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October 31, 2008 at 8:58 am
Tamarleigh Lippegrenfell commented on your status:
“That’s an interesting compromise–very creative! When I was a kid, my mom would have a huge bowl or jar filled with pennies, with the occasional nickel or dime scattered through it, and little kids could reach in and grab one handful as big as they wanted (for big kids, she’d grab them each a reasonable handful). She didn’t want to give out sugar, and we kids would have the orange UNICEF boxes.”
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December 8, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Hi Christina,
In Winchester, the schools actually compete a little, and all the kids get Unicef boxes and take them with them – each school raises over $1000 – everyone here always has a box of quarters next to their candy!
Annie
December 9, 2008 at 10:01 am
Thanks for the additional info and perspective, Annie!