Too much leftover Halloween candy? Here's a good thing you can do with it

Lousy weather, which shortened or canceled trick-or-treating for children across the suburbs Thursday, no doubt compounded an annual problem facing parents: What do you do with all the extra candy?

For many, the answer is to donate part or all of the leftovers. This year, a number of places are accepting unwanted candy, including senior citizen centers, village halls, food pantries and VFW halls.

Dr. Avani Shah, who runs ChiroCenter in Hanover Park, decided to join the trend and began taking up a collection. Shah is paying $1 per pound for donated candy, which she will ship to Operation Shoebox for the troops overseas.

"Instead of tossing candies away, why not give them to people who want to enjoy them?" Shah said. "I know dentists do it, but no one in 5 miles of us had signed up."

Dr. Dawn Diehnelt, of Serenity Dental Studio in Schaumburg, has been collecting candy for Operation Shoebox the last two Halloweens. Diehnelt said the office collected about 700 pounds of candy last year. The haul barely fit into her Mazda 3 sedan.

"Every nook and cranny was stuffed with candy," Diehnelt said. "There was just enough room for me to drive."

Diehnelt said her office staff usual limits candy collection to business hours, but this year the staff will host a special collection day from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at 12 W. Schaumburg Road. They'll even have a table where people can write messages to soldiers.

"It's a win-win-win," Diehnelt said. "The parents get the candy out of the house, the kids aren't tempted to eat it, and the soldiers get to be a part of Halloween."