If you are wishing the mountain of candy you have at home would disappear and not necessarily by consuming it, you may want to consider a visit from the Switch Witch.

Embracing the idea of switching out candy for a toy, gift or helping others is a great way to clear out the candy without chowing down on 10lbs of sweets.

If your child is into donating their treats, Carrie-Lynn Saville, Creator/President of NICU Family Care has a great initiative. With collection site points in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, and Chestermere, Saville shares volunteers collect the candy and then donations are given to NICU Family Care to be used for a couple of great initiatives. "At Christmas time we will put it in all of the parent lounges in all the various NICUs in Calgary, in the end, we only need two to four bins so the rest will get donated to the Happy Birthday Project whom we work very closely with." 

The Happy Birthday Project runs in conjunction with Made By Momma and uses the donated candy to fill loot bags of children who are living in crisis situations or shelters to celebrate their birthdays. 

NICU Family Care got started six years ago and the sole reason it exists is to provide an opportunity for community members to give back. While the Halloween Switch Witch Initiative is only one component, NICU Family Care supports the various NICUs in Calgary throughout the year by donating in a variety of ways. "We use this component to also bring awareness of how people can get involved in our program in ways that they easily can. Everybody wants to help but they don't know how to help, so this is one small way that they can get their kids, families, and communities involved."

If you think your child might prefer to trade in their loot for a gift of some kind rather than donate, they can also visit Great Things in Store.

Bonnie Bend, Owner of Great Things in Store says she got wind of the idea almost a decade ago. "We got the idea from a dental clinic in Calgary after hearing about how some parents used the Switch Witch idea with their kids to get them to exchange candy for some kind of gift. We thought that we could help them get their kids to let go of excess candy by offering a credit that can be used to buy something fun."

Collecting over 150 to 200lbs of candy each year, Bend shares the concept has been a big hit. "Our customers love it! It's fun when the kids come in to spend their free money."

Bend offers $1 in store credit for every pound of candy swapped between today and November 3rd, as wells as, an entry for three gifts cards valued at $20, $15 and $10. Bend donates all the collected candy to groups that have requested it.

If your child is wishing to donate their candy they can drop off in the bin outside of 119 Sunset Park or 37 Heritage View until November 10th.