For BVA members and their families who celebrate the holiday, Happy Halloween! Come tomorrow morning, those with leftover candy or excess candy collected from trick-or-treating can donate it to support a good cause, that of providing a few sweets to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers, Military installations, and Guard/Reserve units that have registered and been approved to receive the collected candy.

Soldiers’ Angels Treats for Troops is a Halloween Candy collection program where local businesses and organizations register to collect the excess Halloween candy.

 In most cases, collection sites accept excess candy from children in exchange for goodies once Trick or Treating season is over. Businesses and other organizations also register to collect internally from members, employees, and customers. It is no surprise that the most popular entities that participate are dental offices, but schools, churches, companies, recreation centers, and many other organizations also collect and then contribute.

Collection sites throughout the country have already registered via an online volunteer portal and can be located on an online Candy Map (see below)! Candy must be shipped by the collecting organization by November 30, so plan accordingly in getting your candy to the locations well before that date.

While Halloween is now associated with costumes, trick-or-treating, and scary movies, it wasn’t always a time of fun and games. The holiday had its origins in Samhain, one of the most sinister festivals on the Celtic calendar.

The ancient Celts believed that on November 1, the souls of those who had died returned to visit their homes or to journey to the other world. People set fires to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by ghosts.

In the eighth century, however, the Roman Catholic Church—perhaps trying to end the pagan holiday—moved All Saints Day to November 1. The previous evening became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween. While the day was celebrated by some Christians, many of the Samhain traditions persisted, and Halloween eventually became more commonly known as a secular holiday.