During our Times-Journal Halloween Party on Wednesday we had the opportunity of celebrating this fun day of costumes with the community.

As we took pictures of the community children and handed out treats, we were also delighted to hand out flyers that gave alternate ideas for eating Halloween candy gathered by children. Instead of risking all kinds of harm to kids with excessive eating and gobbling up of candy, Wood Orthodontics in Selma is offering a plan that will be a win-win for everyone.

This year Wood Orthodontics is involved in a Halloween candy buyback program. Children bring in their candy and they are given cash in return by the pound.

On Nov. 1 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. candy will be accepted and children — or adults — will be given $1 for each pound. So then what happens to the candy? Well it is shipped overseas in goody bags to our U.S. soldiers who need a little treat and a smile.

This portion of the buyback program is done by an organization called Operation Gratitude and it focuses on those service men and women serving in Iraq.

Surely those service people miss being home for Halloween and getting to see their little ones all dressed up.

So before you let your children get a cavity, maybe think about donating the candy to the doctor.