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This past week, Wellesley Dental Group hosted its 12th Annual Candy Drive - the largest one in size and scope to date. This year, they had a record number of 17,000 students across 52 schools and 15 towns in the MetroWest and Greater Boston area participate. Together, the community collected 13,237 pounds of Halloween candy, beating the 2018 all-time high of 12,000 pounds. This candy will be assembled into care packages for the US troops overseas with the help CarePacks, a local non-profit organization.
In celebration of the annual initiative, Drs. Ali and Ali hosted a community and press event this past Friday. The chilly November weather didn’t stop members of the community from coming together to celebrate the monumental candy collection. The crowd enjoyed performances from Evan Lariviere and the Wellesley High School Keynotes, lead by Dr. Kevin McDonald. Rick Bruce from CarePacks and Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Peterson from the Wellesley Fire Department also shared a few words thanking participants for their generosity towards servicepeople. Also in attendance were representatives from the 51st Command Troop, West Suburban Veterans’ District, U.S. Coastguard and Wellesley Police Department, not to mention all the local students of all ages.
During the event, the grand prize of $1,000 was awarded to Hardy Elementary School in Wellesley for raising the greatest amount of candy by weight per student. In second place was Fiske Elementary in Wellesley, and in third place was Willard Elementary in Concord.
“Every year, this candy drive draws the community together, and we unite over the generosity of our children, as they give up their prized Halloween candy to help our servicepeople enjoy a sweet taste from home,” says Dr. Femina Ali from Wellesley Dental Group.
