Excess Halloween candy {& pumpkins} on your hands? Here’s how to best get rid of both!
What can I do with all this leftover Halloween Candy?
Donate It!
Seacoast Kids Calendar has rounded up many nearby locations that will happily take your Halloween candy and find a great way to share it with others.
#1. Discover Portsmouth loves to share and provide treats to visitors attending the upcoming 33rd Annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibition! Or better yet enter the contest and use the candy to build a one of a kind gingerbread house with your family this year.
10 Middle Street
Portsmouth, NH
#2. Building Block Commons continues the tradition of collecting candy for the Troops. From Wednesday, November 1 through Friday, November 3rd, 2023 you can drop your candy off curbside. There is a large plastic container located right by the white mailbox in the drive through.
125 Kingston Road
Exeter, NH
#3. Hampton Academy is participating and would love your help filling up barrels of candy. They have containers in the front office to drop your candy donations in.
29 Academy Ave
Hampton, NH
#4. Many other schools and local organizations collect candy for Treats for Troops – Soldiers Angels. Treats for Troops is an an organization that mails care packages to deployed service members and veterans. It’s the perfect way to unload excess candy & give back to our troops! If you can’t find a drop off near enough to you you can always send your candy directly (if you sign up ahead of time) to Treats for Troops now Soldiers Angels.
#5. The Town of Newton office is open from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and will be collecting during those time from 10/25/23 to 11/7/23.
2 Town Hall Road
Newton, NH
#6. Operation Blessing
600A Lafayette Road
Portsmouth, NH
#7. The Chase Home
698 Middle Road
Portsmouth, NH
#8. We Fill Good at 42 State Road in Kittery is also collecting candy wrappers this year to recylce. Store hours are Tues – Thurs 10 – 6, Fri 10 – 5, Sat 11 – 5 & Sun 11 – 4. See here for more details on dontating a bag of candy wrappers.
2 State Road
Kittery, ME
#9. Link House could always use a candy donation any time of year. They are located at:
37 Washington Street
Newburyport, MA
#10. Operation Shoebox and Any Soldier. These two organizations also collect and donate Halloween candy to troops overseas. Operation Shoebox accepts individually wrapped (heat resistant) candy all year long. Any Soldier allows you to search soldiers’ wish lists and send donations directly overseas.
#11. Your local Dentist Office! Many collect candy in exchange for cash or a nice gift for the switch.
#12. Contact your local Food Pantry, Soup Kitchens, Homeless Shelters, or Nursing Homes to ask if they are collecting candy and the best spot to drop it off. Many of these will take donations of unopened candy for residents and guests year-round.
What can I do with all my pumpkins?
Compost or Feed the Animals!
Our friends at Laney & Lu have linked up with Mr. Fox Composting again this year to help keep those pumpkins out of landfills. Did you know that over one billion pounds of pumpkins are added to landfills each year where they produce methane, a harmful greenhouse gas? Join there efforts to help reduce by dropping off your pumpkins at Laney & Lu’s on Saturday, November 4th from 9 – 11am.
26 Water Street
Exeter, NH
Can’t make it there on Saturday? Several local farms will accept your pumpkins to help feed the animals! Contact them directly to learn more about what exactly they will accept and where to find their drop off spots at the farm.
Have we missed a spot to donate candy or pumpkins? Please share in the comments below and we’ll add them!
