Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – It’s becoming a D.C. area tradition to donate extra Halloween candy to U.S. troops stationed overseas.
Rebecca Kahlenberg is executive director of MoverMoms, a Bethesda-based non-profit. Six years ago, she came up with the idea for a massive Halloween candy collection called “Treats-4-Troops.”
Last year, the organization collected about 7 tons of candy.
“Our candy was packed into about 11,000 Christmas stockings last year for troops of all faiths and in all branches of the military,” Kahlenberg says.
The stockings send, “a message to our troops to let them know that we care about them and we’re thinking about them. They receive this around the holidays,” she says.
The goal is to make Halloween more than just eating candy.
Kahlenberg says the non-profit has three purposes: Rid the house of extra Halloween candy; teach kids about sharing and giving and provide something sweet for U.S. troops overseas.
Candy is collected from across the D.C. Area and is sent to a non-profit group in West Virginia that packs it into stockings for U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guam, says Kahlenberg.
The candy drive begins Oct. 31 and runs through Nov. 4. The goodies will roll out by truck Nov. 5 on their way to West Virginia before heading overseas.
Kahlenberg says as this is truly a grassroots effort and some of the drop-offs are at private homes in D.C., Fairfax, Prince William and Prince Gorge’s counties.
She says Montgomery County has the most drop-off sites as MoverMoms is based there. Details will be posted on the MoverMoms website.
A collection drive is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 3 at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, at the East-West Highway entrance, and at the Walt Whitman High School parking lot.
2012 drop off locations:
District of Columbia
1353 South Caroline Ave. SE, Capitol Hill area
Fairfax County/Alexandria
2712 Berryland Drive, Oakton
Prince William County
9892 Airedale Court, Bristow
Prince George’s County
2700 Valley Way, Cheverly
Montgomery County
7101 Loch Lomond Drive, Bethesda (Headquarters)
7202 45th Street, Chevy Chase (Maryland)
6423 79th Street, Cabin John
205 Alderwood Road, Gaithersburg
319 Argosy Drive, Gaithersburg
11717 Silent Valley Lane, North Potomac
7300 Brookstone Court, Potomac
7412 Brickyard Road, Potomac
5408 Huntington Parkway, Bethesda
8011 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda
4900 Fort Sumner Drive, Bethesda
Allentuck Landscaping Co., 24320 Frederick Rd., Clarksburg
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