Halloween is a fun and exciting holiday that everyone should be able to enjoy, which is why the National Honor Society (NHS) at Marriotts Ridge has organized their annual Halloween Candy Drive. The candy raised this year is being donated to Believe in Tomorrows Children’s Foundation in Catonsville, Maryland.
Hosted at the school, the drive occurred Monday, October 10th through Thursday, October 13th and was sponsored by Mrs. Reier. During the drive, students and staff were encouraged to donate unopened candy to ensure that no child was left out of the joys of trick-or-treating.
“The inspiration behind this drive was mostly the idea of Halloween and having Halloween themed donations. While people are getting in the spirit for the holiday, we expect there to be candy that they are not using, so why not give it to a great cause?” senior and NHS executive member Julia Kumor explained.
The NHS promoted this drive through their Instagram page and students and staff that donated could take a picture with their donation when they dropped it off. There was also a sign-up sheet to help deliver donations for those who wanted to participate but were unable to. The NHS ended up raising over 200 pounds of candy for children, exceeding their goal.
“The main goal for this event is for critically ill children who are currently living at the John Hopkins hospital to be able to have a great Halloween by receiving candy, despite not being able to trick-or-treat. We don’t have an exact number of how much candy we had hoped to donate but we definitely hope to top the number of candy donations from last year’s Halloween Candy Drive,” senior and NHS executive member Zikora Akanegbu said.
Even though the Halloween Candy Drive is over, NHS continues to benefit the community and partnered with United Voices Club for a School Supply Drive that ran until October 19th. They offered one NHS credit for every three items donated. The Candy Drive brought students and kids so much joy and excitement this Halloween and in turn was a huge success.