BOUNTIFUL, Utah — Even though kids may have spent all night collecting a spread of tasty treats, they can now turn their goodies into a local orthodontics office for cold hard cash.
Bailey Orthodontics, which has two offices in Davis County, is paying $2 per pound of candy to kids who'd rather have a little extra spending money over sugary sweets.
"It's for a good cause and it's something that hopefully...the kids can feel good about donating and then also get something fun in return," explained Dr. Andrew Welling.
For every pound of candy, kids will receive a crisp, $2 bill. Five pounds of candy is the maximum per child, meaning they can walk away with a maximum of $10.
Usually, participating children bringing their sacks full of sweets get between six and ten dollars.
"It's gotten to the point now where we get between 400 to 500 pounds of candy," explained Dr. Grant Bailey.
With help from Bailey's brother, who owns Rocky Mountain Movers, the candy is picked, up, boxed up and hauled away.
But what happens to the treats? Bailey said it gets donated to various organizations.
"Through the years, we've donated the candy to several different organizations," Bailey said. "Including the Utah Food Bank or the Bountiful Food Pantry was one of them."
This year, the candy is going to "Charity Anywhere," which will ship the treats to children in Ecuador and Mexico in conjunction with their medical and dental outreaches.
The nonprofit organizes service and outreach projects around the world focused on dental, medical and construction efforts.
Bailey and Welling said the exchange is really a win-win, especially for kids with braces who shouldn't indulge in some candy with chewy caramel or hard toffee.
"Orthodontically, we're encouraging kids to avoid anything really sticky or hard, anything that's gonna break brackets or things like that," Welling explained. "You can still eat candy but just make sure that it's in moderation and that you're, you're taking good care of your teeth afterwards."
Welling said their offices usually see a bit of a boost right after Halloween as kids need to get brackets put back on because they popped off due to candy problems.
You don't have to be a patient at Bailey Orthodontics to participate in the candy for cash exchange, it's open to the entire community.
Just take your sack of candy to a Bailey Orthodontics office in Farmington from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. or Bountiful from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
