How to Help Others in the Miami Area This Halloween
Halloween in Miami conjures up everything from immersive pop-ups and lively themed parties, to haunted houses and family-friendly activities. In fact, according to a recent survey, Miami is one of the best cities in the country for celebrating Halloween, coming in at a solid number three on the list.
Because of its walkability, there are plenty of places to trick-or-treat. Halloween traditions usually involve costumes, pumpkins, and candy. They don’t typically involve doing good for others. This Halloween, try to incorporate some new traditions into your celebrations by treating others!
Trick or Treat for Unicef
If you’re planning to take your kiddos around the neighborhood trick-or-treating, one simple way to add some generosity to your Halloween night is to trick or treat for Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund. Unicef works in over 190 countries to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them reach their full potential. Collecting money for this organization will make Halloween more meaningful for children, knowing they made a difference in the lives of other kids who are just like them.
Donate Halloween Candy
Okay, so we all know that kids end up with pounds of Halloween candy each year. Most parents probably help themselves to a few Snickers bars or Almond Joys, but even so, it is possible that you have more candy than you can (or want) to consume. One way to dispose of it while also helping others? Donate your candy to the Florida-based Operation Shoebox, or to Troopathon's Halloween Candy Buyback program. Last year, Troopathon sent 30,000 pounds of candy in military care packages to troops overseas. Your local dentist may also offer a Halloween candy buyback program.
Volunteer Before (or After) Halloween Night
Various organizations have Halloween activities and are looking for volunteers to help! Each year, the Little Lighthouse Foundation hosts a Children’s Halloween party for children from its partner facilities, and needs volunteers to help set up and manage treat stations, craft stations, and photo booths, and lead games, activities, and dances. Clean Miami Beach is hosting a Halloween-themed beach cleanup at Collins Park. Want to assist with cleaning up after Halloween? You don’t have to attend an organized event to help out! Just walk around your neighborhood and pick up candy wrappers or other trash. (Be sure to wear gloves!)
Teach Your Children More About Halloween
In addition to introducing kindness practices into your Halloween celebrations, use this time to have conversations with your children about managing fears and emotions that may pop up this time of year.
Halloween might be a confusing and maybe scary time for kids. Reading from Doing Good Together’s list of picture books about Halloween will help you and your child navigate this season that can both be fun, and, well, tricky.
Discuss How It Went
No matter how you choose to incorporate kindness into your Halloween traditions, make sure to talk to your children about why what you did was meaningful. For example, you can ask them why they think it is important to use holidays to make a difference, or how they might feel if they were not able to celebrate Halloween the way they are used to celebrating. Ask for their input on ways to help others during other holiday or birthday celebrations – their answers may surprise you!
Doing Good Together’s Miami Kindness Project content is FREE thanks to the generous support of the Al and Jane Nahmad Foundation.