Did your costumed candy crusader make out like a bandit (or a superhero or Minecraft character) this Halloween? Before you start a new savings account to cover dental bills, consider donating some of the loot to a good cause. And when places are sweetening the deal by trading sugar for toys or cash, it’s like taking candy from a baby.
Lisa Bourven, who founded The Toy Nest in Falls Church in 2020, and local dentist Peter Markov, who opened VK Pediatric Dentistry in Arlington in 2019, have hit a sweet spot with their Halloween candy buyback programs.
For the third year in a row, Bourven is offering one point per pound of candy donated at her store—the area’s only toy lending library—where kids can use points to borrow toys to play with onsite or at home. One point gets you a toy valued at $15-$20. So for example, puzzles are one point, while big wooden dollhouses are three points and ride-on toys are four.
Bourven has collected about 185 pounds of candy each of the two years she’s offered the program. Last year, she gave the goodies to the Falls Church Public Works Operations Department, which will get the 2024 haul, too.
“They really do some heavy lifting and need the energy and calories,” Bourven says of the city workers.
In 2022, she donated candy to the Falls Church-based Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia, which supports the families of sick children.
She’s aiming to collect about 225 pounds this year. To do that, she’s extending the donation time frame. It runs Nov. 1-9.
The idea for the candy drive came from Bourven’s own post-Halloween sugar surplus. “I’m a parent, and we all have too much candy,” says the mom of two. “What better way to get kids to part with their candy than to offer them toys?”
Fittingly, costumes are one of the most-borrowed items at the store, she says. In past years, The Toy Nest has stocked about 100 get-ups, but she recently doubled that number, adding looks for infants, as well as Spider-Man and Elsa outfits that are in high demand.
“We’ve been sending out costumes every day for reservations the last couple weeks,” Bourven says.
Another popular item that many young shoppers may happily swap for candy: Superspace tiles. A set of 24 large panels retails for $400, so it’s five points to borrow one. “It’s a giant kid-sized Magna-Tiles set, and the tiles are felt-covered, so it’s very lightweight. Kids can make structures on their own scale, so like giant fort,” Bourven says. “That has been reserved in our collection through mid-March [2025] now.”
Kids can use their points to borrow toys at the time of their candy donation or get a voucher to select something later. They can keep the toy for two weeks if they are members of the library, or one week if they’re not.
Memberships at The Toy Nest start at $30 a month or $360 per year. Nonmembers can borrow up to 10 points ($200 value) of toys for up to a week for $35. Some toys are also available for purchase.
If your kiddo is more interested in cold hard cash, take their surplus sweets to VK Pediatric Dentistry. During the first two weeks of November, the practice will pay $1 per pound for up to 5 pounds of candy.
Markov started the buyback program four years ago after listening to friends talk about how overwhelmed they were by their kids’ holiday haul.
Last year, the program brought in about 350 pounds of candy. He expects to collect closer to 400 pounds this year as interest continues to grow.
“We’ve just had a lot of fun with it for a couple of reasons,” Markov says. “First, it gets a lot of candy off the streets. Kids don’t need the giant bags. It goes to a good cause as well.”
For the first couple years, Markov donated trade-in candy to military troops. Last year, an employee at the practice connected him with a friend who wanted to bring the candy with her on a trip to Vietnam, where she gave the treats to orphanages. “We’ll do that again this year,” he says, adding that he also donates some sweets locally, such as to police officers.
Other ways to donate excess candy include bringing it to Caboose Commons in Merrifield or Caboose Tavern in Vienna through Nov. 5 for the annual Tysons Kiwanis Treats for Troops collection or to local nursing homes, food pantries and hospitals. You can also box it up and mail it to U.S. troops through Operation Shoebox or Move America Forward.
The Toy Nest is located in downtown Falls Church at 125 N. Washington St. and is open Tuesday-Thursday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. VK Pediatric Dentistry is located at 5001 Langston Blvd., Arlington, and is open Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Friday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.