Collecting food bank items instead of candy

A couple weeks ago, I wrote this post about alternative ways for teenagers to spend Halloween.  So what did I end up doing on Halloween? Nothing even close to what I included in that blog post. Except maybe the concept of spreading happiness.

Why? I scared hunger. I joined Free the Children‘s annual campaign, We Scare Hunger, and I collected non-perishables instead of candy.

To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of candy (chocolate is different though – chocolate is my life), and so I wanted a better way to enjoy Halloween. Volunteering, helping the community, and doing random acts of kindness are all hobbies of mine, so when I heard about the We Scare Hunger campaign, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Basically, We Scare Hunger encourages people to collect non-perishable food items (cans, pasta, rice, etc.) and donate them to their local food bank.

Come Halloween night, I dressed up as a pumpkin, got my dad to follow along as a pack-mule, and went door to door asking for non-perishables. At first I was kind of anxious about telling people, “I’m actually collecting non-perishables for the food bank, if you’d like to donate,” but by the end of the night, all worries were washed away by the good feeling of helping my community.

The grand total of my night collecting donations was 80 pounds, which was 82 items! My dad and I were hoping for 50 pounds, so I was super pleased with what I accomplished. In addition, people donated a total of $32, which made my grin that much wider. Hopefully, I can now put that grin onto the face of less-fortunate people in our city, when I donate it all to the Calgary Food Bank.

Check out Free the Children to see what other campaigns they have, and join in! Change the world and have fun 🙂