Where You Can Donate Leftover Halloween Candy in the Evansville Area

Halloween is over and thanks to near-freezing temperatures during peak trick-or-treat hours this year, the number of kids coming to your door and begging asking for candy was likely less than you expected leaving you with a bucketful you don't know what to do with. Yes, you could eat some of it yourself (if you haven't already), but there's that little voice in your head telling you that you don't need it. So, what can you do with it? You don't want to throw it in the trash because you spent good money on it. You could stick the bowl on top of the fridge, but then you'll either eat it, or you'll forget it's there until you need that bowl for something months down the road and you end up throwing it in the garbage anyway. Fortunately, there are a few places around the Evansville area that will gladly take it off your hands.

Where to Donate Your Leftover Halloween Candy

I buy more candy than I need for two reasons. For starters, I want to have some left for me to eat, and secondly, just in case we get more trick-or-treaters at our house than I expect. But mainly, it's the first reason. Anyway, I've seen a few people on Facebook finding themselves in the same dilemma and asking if anyone knows what they can do with it. These are some of the suggestions I've seen:

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Food Pantry's

Non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army or the Tri-State Food Bank will accept unopened candy donations to distribute through their food pantries. Several churches around the area also have food pantries to help those dealing with food insecurity and will likely accept your leftover candy as well.

Chemo Buddies

The Evansville-based non-profit pairs volunteers with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy so those patients have someone who can provide comfort and friendship during treatments. The organization will give any candy donations to patients to provide a little pick-me-up while they receive their chemo medication. Donations can be dropped off at the Chemo Buddies office in the Ascension-St. Vincent Medical Arts Building at 3700 Bellemeade Avenue during regular business hours.

Ronald McDonald House

The Ronald McDonald Houses provide a place for families to stay while their children undergo treatment for a variety of illnesses at Evansville-area hospitals. Candy donations would be used to give to those patients and their families which often include siblings. Evansville has two Ronald McDonald House locations. One on the campus of Ascension-St. Vincent on Washington Avenue and another on the second floor of Medical Office Building 5 on the Deaconess Gateway Hospital campus.

Homeless Shelters

Both the Evansville Rescue Mission and United Caring Services provide food along with a place to stay for the night to those with no home in the area. While they do have a budget to purchase food items, both, and others like them, will also take food donations. The candy you donate could be thrown in as a dessert when they serve their meals.

These are just a few options you could choose. If you do decide to donate your leftover Halloween candy to any of them, I recommend calling the location ahead of time to verify they'll take it.