The Dentist Who Buys Kids' Halloween Candy for Troops

A Wisconsin dentist named Chris Kammer started paying kids a dollar a pound for their leftover Halloween candy and sending it to troops overseas. His own children told him it was a terrible idea. Thousands of dentists across the country have joined the program since.

"Dad, That's a Terrible Idea"

Kammer's pitch was simple: bring in the candy left over after trick-or-treating, and the dental office pays by the pound. ABC News, which named him its Person of the Week in 2010, reported that his own kids were not impressed. "Dad, that's a terrible idea," they told him.

Accounts of the exact start date differ by a year or two, but ABC placed it about four years before its 2010 profile, in the mid-2000s. Kammer has said he was influenced by his father, Jack Kammer, also a dentist and a community philanthropist who founded a Christmas lights festival.

From One Office to Almost Every State

The candy did not go in the trash. It was donated to troops, and the idea spread quickly. By 2010, ABC reported thousands of participating dentists in nearly every state, and the program had collected 122,000 pounds of candy the year before.

Where the Candy Goes Now

The buyback has become a November routine, and the troop side of it now runs through military charities. Soldiers' Angels, a nonprofit that supports service members and veterans, runs a Treats for Troops campaign each fall. Its site registration opens October 1 and closes October 31, and the candy is due to be delivered no later than November 30.

The charity says dental practices are among its most popular collection sites, and that offices often give kids a small prize in exchange for the candy they donate. The candy goes to VA hospitals, military installations, and Guard and Reserve units, and into care packages for deployed service members.

Soldiers' Angels reported in October 2024 that it had shipped 594,970 pounds of donated Halloween candy since the campaign began in 2016.

A Better Use for the Pile

For parents, the appeal is plain: the candy leaves the house the morning after Halloween. For the troops who open the boxes, it is a taste of home from strangers. Dental offices still collect it every November.