So Much Candy, So Few Broken Brackets

What do you do with all that candy the day after Halloween? You know, the stuff that your kids dragged home trick or treating the night before; the stuff left over after the kids finally stopped ringing your doorbell. What do you do with it all?

If you're like most of us, you probably end up eating a lot of it and letting your kids eat the rest and then you end up regretting it for a long time afterward. Or you end up throwing it out and feeling bad about wasting the money or you leave it in a cabinet or in the refrigerator for six months, until it's stale.

Now you have an alternative: The Candy Exchange. A national organization called Smiles Change Lives sponsors this event, where children can bring their unwanted (or just extra) candy to an orthodontist in exchange for a healthy prize. October is National Orthodontic Health Month and the organization hopes to collect 10,000 pounds of Halloween candy in partnership with nearly 20 orthodontic providers nationwide. 

Half Hollow Hills residents are lucky to have a Long Island orthodontist participating in this event right in Melville: Dr. Zackary Faber and his father, Dr. Richard Faber, are located at Faber Orthodontics, 425 Broadhollow Road, Suite 125. This is their second year participating in the Candy Exchange.

Last year, Faber Orthodontics gathered up just over 1,000 pounds of candy for Smiles Change Lives.

"I had never seen that much candy in one location in my entire life," Dr. Zackary Faber said. "I had expected a few parents to show up with a little bit of candy last November 1, and it was just unbelievable. I had one patient, whose mom is a teacher in Kings Park Middle School, and she collected 700 pounds of candy at her school and brought it all to me."

"I had always wanted to do something for the military," Faber added, "And yes, I am a dentist sending candy to people, but still, it's nice for them overseas to know that people are thinking about them."

As Faber mentioned, all the candy that's collected is shipped overseas by Operation Troop Aid, an organization that accepts donations and sends care packages to members of the troops. The founder of their organization works for FedEx, so all their packages are shipped for free via Federal Express.

"It was a great fit for us," Faber said.

Faber has been an orthodontist in Melville for 9 years, when he joined his father's practice, which has been in operation for almost 35 years. "He's still here and he's still going strong," Faber said about his dad.

Faber, who went through the HHH schools, said he loves to make the kids feel like they are doing something good, and he said the kids seem to feel the same way. He gives any child who donates candy "something useful and practical," he said. Sponsors for the event include 3M, Johnson & Johnson and Oral B.

Faber said he is "looking forward to doing this again this year," from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, November 1 in his office at 425 Broadhollow Road, Suite 125, in Melville; 631-752-9422.