Trick or Treating for the Greater Good, Instead of Just for Chocolate

When I was a child, all those years ago, the evening of Halloween was more than just the chance to dress up in costume, either as a fairy princess or a ghost, and knock on my neighbors doors begging for goodies and enough candy to keep my dentist enjoying his lifestyle. It was also the chance to gather spare change from my neighbors, with the simple phrase “Trick or Treat for Unicef” while holding out the familiar small orange box.

The box itself provided astounding information about what could be purchased for just pennies, how many children could receive potentially life-saving immunizations, or how much clean drinking water could be provided to one village. Whether I was a fairy princess or something less appealing, I always felt a smile behind my mask as I calculated, at each house, how much some village would benefit from the simple act of my knocking on a door.

Children in my neighborhood today do not trick or treat for Unicef, nor does the local elementary school pass out those small orange boxes. I wish they did. On the 31^st, next to the big pot full of candy bars and gum, I will also have a bowl of quarters, nickels and dimes, just hoping that at least one little goblin utters that familiar phrase to me.

For more information on Unicef, and just how effectively those little orange boxes of change are used, or to make a donation yourself, visit www.unicef.org